Posted on 08/24/2008 1:40:45 PM PDT by Perdogg
The closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics Sunday night has drawn worldwide attention and Beijing's successful hosting of the Games has earned global applause.
Pakistan's national TV station, and the private GEO, EXPRESS, NEWS and AAJ stations gave live coverage of the entire ceremony.
Their commentators congratulated China on its successful hosting of the Games, saying that Pakistan is happy to see China won most gold medals.
The Kyodo news agency said in a story that "The Beijing Olympic theme of 'One World, One Dream' turned out a success despite predictions of gloom and doom, including whispers of terrorist plots and complaints of air pollution ahead of the competition in which more than 10,500 athletes from a record 204 national delegations participated."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.xinhuanet.com ...
The only thing I watched this year was the USA winning gold in men’s basketball last night.
If it wasn’t for my wife having it on as I walked in the room I wouldn’t have seen 5 minutes of it. As it was I saw less than 30
I love the Olympics but let’s never forget that the host is an oppressive, lying, cheating threat to peace and mankind.
I agree. The 2014 Winter games are in Solchi, Russia
I thought NBC did a much better job then usual. It used to be almost unwatchable. This time there was a lot less jumping around and more concentration on a single event. Less of the athlete back story crap. More on-line coverage available. An even-handed coverage of the Chinese. I would give it a 9.2.
Costas should just let the gray show..
They need to up his and carillo’s meds too..
Didn’t watch much of the events, hit and miss,,
can’t wait ‘til Winter 2014 in Sochi
OLYMPIC NEWS
IOC President’s Speech at the Closing Ceremony of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (24 August 2008)
IOC President Jacques Rogge Predicts Positive Legacy From Games (24 August 2008)
Beijing Games: Facts and Figures (24 August 2008)
120th IOC Session concludes in Beijing (24 August 2008)
BEIJING GAMES: FACTS AND FIGURES
24 August 2008
Sport Amazing Venues, Amazing Results
· A record 204 NOCs participating; record number of women participating
· 132 Olympic records, 43 world records (as of 24/8 at 9:30)
· A record 87 NOCs join medal count the most ever
· First-ever medals for Afghanistan, Mauritius, Tajikistan and Togo; first-ever gold medals for Bahrain, Mongolia and Panama; first individual gold for India
· Rave reviews for venues, Olympic Village, transportation and Games organization
International Popularity On Track To Become the Most-Watched Games in History
· More broadcast coverage to more people in more regions than ever
· First Olympic Games in history to have global digital coverage
· Record TV ratings in U.S. and China
· Record traffic to Games-related Web sites
· More visitors to IOCs site in first week than during entire 2004 Games; site has received over 5 million unique visitors so far (compared to 2.8 million unique visitors during 2004, total)
· 16.5 million views on IOCs digital channel (YouTube), across Africa, Asia and the Middle East
Olympic Magic Memorable Moments
· Opening Ceremony awes international audience Record audiences across the worlds major markets. 80 percent audience share in China. 50 percent share in U.S. and major European markets.
· Phelps wins eight gold medals
· Bolt streaks across finish line twice in 100-m and 200-m
· Georgian and Russian embrace at shooting range
· A half-million enthusiastic Chinese volunteers welcome Olympic visitors
Meeting Challenges
Doping
- Zero tolerance gets results; nearly 40 cheaters caught before the Games, 4 cheaters caught by IOC during Games
- Record number of athletes tested, stringent new testing requirements
Air Quality
- Competition opened on second consecutive day of Grade I air quality, a decade-long record for Beijing
- In the other 8 days, Beijing’s air quality was Grade II, which still fell well within WHO and IOC standards
- Stringent monitoring protects athletes health
Attendance
- Attendance has more than tripled since the start of the Beijing Games
Jake Deitchler of the U.S. (in red) fights Armen Vardanyan of Ukraine during their 66 kg men's Greco-Roman wrestling repechage round 2 match at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 13, 2008. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez (CHINA)
REAL caption to the above pic:
"Mr. Obama, can you explain to our CNN audience what it really felt like to walk on the Sea of Galilee!"
Can you say, “The Potemkin Games.”
I watched about 14 hours of the Olympics this year, more than any year since 1968. The NBC, Oxygen, MSNBC coverage was excellent; the web site was excellent; the web video was excellent. Overall, this was the best Olympics ever for viewers.
It is an atrocity that China was selected as a host country, considering their repressive regime—political prisoners, invasion of Tibet and squashing the culture thereof, persecution of Christians, repression of free speech etc.
But the IOC has a history of giving the venue to repressive regimes: 1936 - Nazi’s; 1980 - USSR, Moscow, 2008 - China.
I have been praying for Chinese Christians every day of the Olympics. Here is the story of our prayer campaign from Voice of Martyrs:
“Pastor Zhang Bike Mingxuan, known for traveling across China on a bicycle to evangelize, was arrested by Chinese police just two days before the Olympics began. Pastor Bike was the inspiration for the recent partnership between The Voice of the Martyrs and China Aid Association to create the Olympic Prayer Band.
Pastor Asks for Prayer Band
Earlier this year, Pastor Bike pleaded with VOM staff to ask Christians to pray for persecuted Christians in China during the Olympics. The pastor voluntarily preaches the gospel openly in China despite being persecuted. He has asked for his identity to be revealed to bring continued attention to the persecution of Christians in Communist China.
Thanks to Pastor Bikes inspiration and the commitment of concerned Christians across the United States, more than 800,000 prayer bands have been circulated. On Aug. 6, Pastor Bike was arrested while trying to deliver medicine to his ailing wife. His wife and another pastor were also arrested. We have also learned this week that Chinese officials are opening a full investigation of the Olympic Prayer Bands that were distributed to house church members within China. Despite this increased pressure from Chinese authorities, Chinese Christians continue to ask for prayer and to make their plight known.”
http://etools.780net.com/a/vomso/bg_vomso_wdbm_327.html
Yeah, it was so successful that the London mayor has decided that his olympics will at least be fun.
I think these 4 were horses.
The athletes themselves with their performances do not reflect on China whatsoever. China remains an enemy to human rights and freedom and it won’t be long until they pull an equivilent to Russia’s invasion of Georgia. And it’s interesting to note that China relied mostly on JUDGED events to gain their advantage in gold. They were still bested by Americans in medal count and being in the top three of all sports. And they want to do away with softball and baseball-how about ping pong?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.