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BEIJING: China capped the most splendid year in its sports history
when it concluded with a bang its debut as Olympic host in 2008.
After 16 days of near-flawless organization and
first-class athletic achievement, International Olympic Committee
President Jacques Rogge called the Beijing Olympics “truly
exceptional,” validating China’s seven-year efforts not only to
stage a great Games but to use it as a gateway to gaining
international recognition.
“It has been a long journey since our decision
in July 2001 to bring the Olympic Games to China, but there can now
be no doubt that we made the right choice,” Rogge said on the
final day of the Games in August.
Yet the run-up to the Beijing Olympics was not
plain sailing, especially in the last few months before the opening
ceremony.
An 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit southwest
China’s Sichuan Province in May, killing more than 80,000 people,
and violent protesters disrupted the Olympic torch relay in France
and other countries. In addition, there had been persistent concerns
about Beijing’s air pollution and the IOC initially said some
outdoor endurance events might be rescheduled in case of unhealthy
air conditions.
To Beijing’s credit, however, everything
worked perfectly during the period of Games time, from the special
Olympic bus lines bringing visitors in from around the city, to the
thousands of smiling volunteers in blue-and-white uniforms offering
help in different languages, to the tickets with embedded RFID chips
that allowed for quick computerized scanning and to the clean skies
that reminded many European visitors of Mediterranean conditions.
“The Beijing Games is testimony to the fact
that the world has its trust rested in China,” said Liu Qi,
president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Games. “The
Chinese people, filled with enthusiasm, have honored the commitments
they solemnly made.”
These Games have attracted the most
participants—from a record 204 countries and regions—and
according to the International Olympic Committee, television
audiences achieved record high in most major markets and the
games’ presence online was by far the most extensive ever. The
opening ceremony alone was seen by 1.2 billion people around the
globe.
Rogge believed the largest extravaganza in
Olympic history brought greater global understanding of
once-reclusive China.
“Through the Games, the world has learned more
about China, and China learned more about the world,” he said.
For 100 years the Olympic dream has been a
national obsession, as historical archives showed that shortly after
the 1908 Games in London, a magazine based in north China’s port
city of Tianjin published an article and first raised the question:
When will China be able to host the Olympic Games?
And for the past seven years the Olympics has
been a driving force to push China forward. If nothing else, some of
the $40 billion invested in the Beijing 2008 preparations will
remain in the form of the three new subway lines, a new airport
terminal and sports facilities built for the Games. The thousands of
young, smiling volunteers will take their warmth and enthusiasm back
to their daily lives.
The Olympics also offered China another chance
to adopt international practice. International Olympic Committee
officials, foreign administrative teams and foreign sponsors were
engaged extensively in the preparations. From the design of the
state-of-the-art Bird’s Nest, to the broadcasting and
administrative work, they helped improve the standard of the Games.
With the Olympic baton now passed on to London,
the legacy will last well after.
“The Games gave us a more open and mature
attitude,” said Professor Hu Jiqing from Nanjing University.
“This attitude featured magnanimity, tolerance and pluralism.”
“More importantly, it embodies a more
confident nation,” added Hu.
-- Xinhua
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