Olympic Sports Profile: Aquatics

Aquatics have been a part of Olympic sports since 1896.

There were three swimming events at the very first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

The first few modern Olympic Games, before there were universally accepted rules, were host to some events that would seem kind of strange by todays standards. Things like Underwater Swimming, obstacle swimming and plunge for distance were on the menu. Oceans rivers and lakes were used for the events, before the use of a pool was implemented at the London Games.

In 1908, however the rules were unified when eight countries met and formed a world-wide swimming association.

They created standards for record keeping and what events were to be held at all the games.

China's First Rainwater Recylcling Systerm

Is China really getting greener? GE will provide China's first ever rainwater recycling system at the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics Games in Beijing. This is one of over 300 projects that GE is involved with for the Olympics in '08.

The water, which is stored in underground pools, will be used for landscaping, cleaning and firefighting.

This is also part of China's effort to implement better, greener water management solutions for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. These kinds of improvements to China's infrastructure will no doubt continue to be useful for many hears after the Olympics next summer.

This type of water treatment system is very advanced and does not use chemical, therefore it meets even the most stringent environmental standards. There is no question that this as well as the many other efforts by GE and others to "green up" Beijing and the surrounding areas are welcome improvements indeed.

2008 Olympics Venue: Archery Field

Another venue for the 08 Olympic games is getting praise from the IOC. The Olympic Green Archery Field was the host of an on-site tour by IOC officials who said "Everything looks good."
The venue is 8,609 square meters and 4 gold metals will be awarded there.

Olympic Cylcling Road Tested

The "2007Good Luck Beijing" International Road Cycling Tournament took place on Sunday on the Cycling course for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The cyclists who took part in the event spoke very highly of the course.

Teams from eighteen(18) countries participated on the 102.6km track (174km riding distance).

The course is said to be very beautiful with a lot of scenery including the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, Yonghegong Palace, Temple of Earth Park, the Beijing Olympic Tower and the Summer Palace, and the Badaling Highway.

Traffic control reportedly went smoothly and there were no accidents.

2008 Olympics Torch Video

Here is a video featuring the torch for the Olympics in Beijing.

Another 2008 Olympic Games Promotion Video

Here is another neat promotional video for the '08 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. This one features some pretty cool animations. Feel free to leave some comments and tell us what you think about some of these videos.

2008 Olympics Clay Target Field

The Clay target field (CTF) for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing is complete and has been delivered.

Shooting competitions for the '08 Olympics will take place from August 9 until August 15th and 5 gold medals will be awarded at this venue.

Events from this venue will include men's trap, women's trap, men's double trap, men's skeet and women's skeet.

Olympic BMX venue [with pics]

The first ever Olympic BMX gold medal will be awarded at the Laoshan Bicycle Moto Cross (BMX) Venue in 2008. It is a very unique arena (as are most bmx venues) and it will see it's first competitions on August 20-21, 2007 when it will host the Good Luck Beijing 2007 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup.

Here are some pictures of the 2008 Olympics BMX venue

China has acquired an IBM supercomputer for forcasting weather

The Beijing Meteorological Bureau has acquired a supercomputer from IBM to use for forecasting the weather and air quality conditions during and after the Olympics. This new computer is considerably more powerful than their current system, about 10 times more powerful in fact and can provide much more data.
The machine uses IBM's Power5+ processor with a top speed of 9.8 teraflops(real word, I swear).

Coke at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing

Coca-Cola has already begun it's ad campaign for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The campaign will feature NBA stars and Olympians LeBron James and Yao Ming.

The campaign will be a world wide offensive and will show how Coke and the Olympics can bring cultures together.

Coca-Cola has been involved in the Olympics since 1928.

Beijing 2008 Is Building Up for a Big Letdown

William Peek from Bloomberg.com says enough with all the hype about the 2008 Olympics. Basically I think he is saying it's really not as big of a deal as it is being made out to be. I can sort of see where he is coming from. We're a year away from the Olympics in Beijing and the web is full of countdowns and hype and even ad campaigns from sponsors. Even so, there is no doubt this will be the most widely covered and highly publicized Olympics in history, and I don't think the hype is gonna die down anytime soon.

Here's a bit of the article and a link to the full story:

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Here's a contrarian question concerning the 2008 Beijing Olympics: Who cares?

Sure, it's a big deal -- the media are telling us so. One year out, we're being bombarded by countdown articles about how grand and historic the event will be: massive construction projects, an army of foreign journalists, Steven Spielberg- directed pageantry and, oh yeah, some sporting events.

China sees the games as a coming-out party, a showcase for its rising stature as a world power. Critics see them as a perfect opportunity to push China for greater openness, more tolerance for dissent and to become a better global citizen.

All parties may have to get used to disappointment. The Beijing Olympics could result in none of the above.

First, barring anyone who has been living in a cave the past 10 years, who really thinks China needs a coming-out party? The place is, well, out. Really out. From television news items to magazine covers to Zhang Ziyi movies to tour companies, one can't escape Asia's No. 2 economy.

For businesspeople and investors, China is becoming the center of their world. A truck driver in Waco, Texas, or a factory worker in Krakow, Poland, would be just as hard-pressed to live a China-free life. Just ask Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based journalist Sara Bongiorni, whose recent book ``A Year Without `Made in China''' demonstrates the futility of existing without Chinese products.

Enough Hype...

Full Story Here

Amnesty International's press release about the Olympics

Many groups have been very vocal about boycotting the Olympics in Beijing and with the 1 year countdown having begun Amnesty International has issued a press release and published it on their website.

The press release sites their new report, The Olympics countdown -- one year left to fulfil human rights promises, and focuses on four things that they feel need immediate attention, the death penalty, detention without trial, treatment of human rights defenders and media freedom.

'08 Olympics official 1 year countdown has begun

As of Wednesday, August 8th the one year countdown to the 08 Olympics in Beijing has begun and there was a party in Tienanmen Square to kick off the countdown. Fireworks, music and more were part of the big celebration.

China has been making all sorts of changes since the announcement that the Olympics would be held in Beijing, including huge construction projects, efforts to clean up the air in Beijing which is said to have some of the worst pollution in the world and security measures. The one controversial subject that still remains is that of human rights. There has been much talk of improvements in this are but most people agree that not much has really been done.

Many groups are still boycotting the Olympics and saying that holding the games in Beijing, China tarnishes the reputation of this historic tradition.

Olympic torch route video

Here's a video clip of the 2008 Olympic torch route from back in April:

2008 Olympic video clips

Here's a neat little collection of 2008 Olympics video clips from Youtube.

NBC Olympic Coverage

WOW! NBC announced part of its plans for their television coverage of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. 3,600 hours of coverage, 1,400 hours on NBC and their cable networks and 2,400 hours will be broadcast for free on the internet.

This is far more coverage than any previous Olympic games, about 212 hours a day for 17 days.

Beijing Olympics going "green"

A project has begun to build 33 windmills to power the 2008 Olympics. The project's cost is estimated at around $76.7 million or 580 million yuan.

These new windmills will provide about 100 million kwh of electricity to the city, which currently uses coal fired generators for electricity. This will significantly reduce carbon monoxide emissions and is aimed raising awareness of environmentally friendly power sources.

The Chinese Olympic committee has stated that it wanted at least 20 percent of the Olympic venues to be powered by wind generated electricity.

Beijing Olympic torch

The Beijing Olympic torch was revealed on April 26 2007. Here are some photographs:

About 2008 Olympics in China blog

Since the announcement that the 2008 Olympics would be in Beijing, China the Internet has been flooded with news, articles, opinions and more about the subject and sorting through it all can be a bit overwhelming. The purpose of this blog is to help you digest some of this information and find it a bit easier. Our hope is that you will use this blog as your source for news and information about the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Places on the web where you can find The 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China listed:
We will continually update this post to show appreciation to those sites and directories that link to our blog.

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