The Official 2008 Beijing Olympics Thread

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One World, One Dream


We are now just a year away from the games of the XXIX Olympiad, the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The first games to be held in China, and the third in Asia, will see up to 205 Nations compete in 302 events over 28 sports. The Olympics, as always, see's many flock to the host nation to cheer on their athletes, with many more tuning in on TV, Radio and the Internet to view the action.

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Prosperity

Like many other's, the Arena will count down to the Opening Ceremony on the 8th of August. In the meantime, all Olympic related news and speculation should go in this thread for the time being.

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Passion

As always, there's plenty to discuss. Are you looking forward to the games? Do you have memories of previous games you'd like to share? What Olympic sports are your favourite? Which individuals do you expect to dominate? Will China finally win the medal tally? The possibilities are endless.

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Happiness

 

Man I love the Olympics. You can't hype it enough for my tastes. A year out and I'm already psyched for it.


Man I hate Olympic Mascots. You can't show them too little for my tastes. I'm already sick of the London mascot.

 

I love the Olympics, although I don't watch it very studiously. I like seeing all the different athletes from all over the world coming together, and the different places it's hosted at.

 

Is the green in the Happiness' panda bear headdress representative of all the USD bonds China holds? They don't have to be so smug about it.

 

I like the Olympics and hate the coverage.


Summer games spend way too much time on gymnastics and winter games fixate on figure skating. Anything that has a score for "artistic" merit doesn't garner my interest.

I know both of these are huge ratings grabbers, but I'd much rather watch some of the lesser known sports.


It's a shame that someone like Bonnie Blair (speed skater) was a relative unknown for much of her career, yet ended up as one of the most decorated women in Olympics history with 5 gold medals.

Compare that to one of her contemporaries, Nancy Kerrigan (figure skater), who finished in second place one time, but after that performance was able to rake in multi-million dollar endorsement deals.

 

I'm dissapointed that Beijing and the IOC caved into NBC's demands to have the swimming finals moved to the morning to fit the American market. Not only will it upset the swimmer's preparation (and finals have never been held in the morning at any high level event), but it means I probably will miss most of them live.

 

Handball is awesome, but never shown.

Also I think the USA's reign as top medal earner is going to be challenged by China. It probably will.

 

I've tried to watch a fair bit of handball the last couple of Olympics, and I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Table Tennis is another, although it arguably gets greater coverage than handball. There's just something about watching the players smash that little ball across the table that's hypnotic.