The Games of the XXIX Olympiad is almost upon us. For the casual observer, this is otherwise known as the Summer Olympics to be held in Beijing, China. The opening ceremonies will begin on August 8, 2008, at 8 minutes past 8 PM, local China time. The number 8 signifies good luck in a culture steep in tradition. And with the world watching, the country will welcome some good fortune as it hosts the biggest sporting show on earth.

Over the years, we have all seen the progression and popularity of the Olympics from one four-year cycle to the next. The Olympic Games are getting bigger, more commercial and more extravagant. There are logistical questions regarding transporation, hotel accomodations and security involved. To get a better understanding of the issues a host country faces in these modern times, here is a look at the numbers.

Some 205 nations will be participating in the Beijing games, with approximately 10,500 athletes competing in 302 events within 28 sports. 37 sporting venues were built to accommodate the Beijing Olympics Games. While most of the events will be held in Beijing, football, equestrian and sailing will be held in other Chinese cities such as Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Tianjin, Hong Kong and Qingdao.

The anticipated attendance for the Beijing Games is more than half a million. This does not include the 70,000 volunteers, 4000 staff, 18,000 journalists and the 10,500 athletes themselves.

When the Summer Games were awarded to Beijing, one of the concerns was the poor air quality of the city. Moreover, to house so many new visitors, transportation was an issue in an already chaotic traffic system. To combat this problem, local vehicles will only be allowed on the road on alternate days during the Olympic Games. Vehicles from outside Beijing will also be prohibited from entering the city unless they meet air quality standards.

Another issue that Chinese officials had to address was the dangerous time we live in. The Olympics has grown to become the premiere sporting event in the world with a global audience. Unfortunately, this spotlight also attracts political and religious zealots. To keep the Games safe, China has created an anti-terror squad of 100,000 men strong.

It seems as though China is addressing anticipated issues well and will strive for the best Olympic Games ever for its coming out party. Now that the logistics are over, let’s get the show on the road and let the XXIX Olympiad begin!



By: Mariam Ma

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Steroid use rumors and steroid bans are nothing new when it comes to the Olympics and it looks like the Beijing 2008 Olympics will be no different than the past Olympic games. Olympic history is peppered with steroid abuse stories including the very famous stories on Ben Johnson in the 1988 Olympics and more recently Marion Jones.

This years Beijing Olympic games has seen dozens of athletes from around the world being banned for steroid use and doping. The U.S. swimming team has had several of it’s members investigated. Greek track and weighlifting athletes have been under the microscope since the spring with several being banned from the 2008 Olympics. Both the Romanian and Russian track teams have seen members banned from this years Olympic games.

Searches in Google for anything related to steroids and the Beijing 2008 Olympics and you’ll get back tens of thousands of results. Steroid issues are alive and well when it comes to Olympic athletes even though the Olympic committee has vowed to eliminate them from the Games. When it comes to steroids the Olympic games are no different than any other sport or league. Athletes will do whatever they feel is necessary to win, it’s simply a condition of the competitive spirit.

It’s obvious in this day and age that when thousands of world class athletes are brought together that steroids will be in the limelight. Everyone loves to point out those athletes they feel are ‘cheating’ by using steroids, but is it really cheating if everyone is doing it. Athletes are competitive by nature and willing to do anything to win so why would you expect them to forego steroid usage if it will improve their performance.

I imagine that steroid controversies will continue for the duration of the Beijing Olympics. It would be no surprise to see athletes have medals revoked after winning at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. What do you think? Should steroids be allowed at world level competitions? Is it necessary for athletes to use performance enhancing drugs to put in the best possible performance or is it better to have natural athletes showing what the human body can do on its own?

There’s no doubt that unless we come up with some way to discover all performance enhancing substances that steroid abuse will continue. And you can also bet that new ways to increase and enhance performance will be discovered and used by athletes in the future.



By: Steven Walters

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The Olympics are in Beijing in 2008, how are the teams chosen for the fencing competition?

The mandated levels of athlete participation has led to changes in the selection process for the Games. Each nation is no longer guaranteed an athlete in each sport – now nations and athletes have to compete against not only their countrymen, but against others in their region or continent for an Olympic slot.

In the 2004 Olympic Games all of the men’s events (epee, foil, and saber) were included, but two of the three women’s events did not hold the team competition.

The international fencing federation (FIE) rotates the events which will sit out the team portion of the Olympics, and for the 2008 Olympic Fencing competition, Men’s Foil and Women’s Epee will only hold an individual tournament.

Who gets to go?

Athletes are competing for slots based on their nation’s standing in the world (for team events) and based on individual world rankings (for the individual events.) Here’s a breakdown of what it will take for an aspiring swordsman (or swordswoman) to get a ticket to Beijing:

Weapons with Team Events (Men’s Epee, Men’s Sabre, Women’s Foil, Women’s Sabre):

Team Events are comprised of teams of 3 fencers with 1 alternate. A total of 8 teams can compete in each team event (9 if China fails to qualify a team directly).

The top 4 teams in the world standings will qualify directly to the Olympics. The remaining 4 teams are chosen based on regional qualification. The top team from each region (Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa) that is not already qualified will earn a regional berth.

The individual event is a tournament with a field of 39 fencers. For the individual competition, the 24 fencers that competed in the team event qualify. After the first 24 fencers are chosen, the top 3 in the World standings qualify, with only one fencer from any one country. The next 7 are pulled from the Olympic zones as the top 2 from Europe, 2 from Asia, 2 from the Americas, and 1 from Africa, again with only 1 fencer from a country. The remaining 5 slots are determined by a continental qualifying competition with 2 from Europe and 1 from each of the remaining regions.

What about Men’s Foil and Women’s Epee?

A different set of criteria is used to pick the 24 fencers who will compete in the Men’s Foil and Women’s Epee events. Because there is no team event, each individual will have to qualify on their own merit and not on the ranking of their national team. The following formula is used to pick the 24 individual entries:

The top 8 in the World rankings get their tickets punched (but only 2 can go from the same country from this set.) After the first 8 are chosen, the next 8 in are picked by region based on adjusted world rankings. (There are 3 slots for Europe, 2 for Asia, 2 for the Americas, and 1 for Africa.) The last 8 qualify based on continental competitions where countries that haven’t qualified any fencers on the first 2 rounds. In the last round, the allocation of slots remains at 3 Europe, 2 Asia and Americas, and 1 for Africa.

Outlook for the United States

Will the US earn a medal in 2008?

The United States earned Bronze and Gold medals in Women’s sabre in 2004. Sada Jacobson and Mariel Zagunis are still at the top of the world rankings and are joined by young fencing phenom Becca Ward, who last year won the individual world championship title at the Cadet, Junior, and Senior levels of competition. The US is favored to medal in Women’s Sabre.

In the other weapons, the best hopes are with Men’s Sabre as the individual team members are posting good results for the season.



By: Craig Harkins

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For the Chinese, August 8, 2008 is an extremely auspicious day; hence, why this date was chosen as the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics. If you’re going to attend the XXIX Olympiad and heading to China for it, know what behavior is acceptable in China, and learn Chinese.

Understand the Rules

Even if the Olympics is supposed to bring the whole world together in unity, there are still numerous laws that have to be followed. China has very rigid rules for both natives and foreigners, and it’ll do you good to learn them to prevent trouble.

You still have to comply with many rules, even if the Olympics is meant to foster unity to the whole world. You’ll do well to avoid trouble by learning China’s very strict laws for both foreigners and locals alike.

Studying Chinese fast can considerably assist you since this list is in Chinese. With basic Chinese, you can make yourself understood when you are asked questions, in need of help, or lost.

The Chinese government have declared certain areas such as military installations off-limits to foreigners. STDs, mental handicaps, and anti-China sentiments are also banned. You will have a good chance of getting a Chinese visa if you learn Chinese.

Understand the Culture

Chinese culture has been in existence for several millenia. Learning portions of this culture will help you deal with the Chinese people.

Personal relationships normally stem from business relationships. In China, the more you build a close personal relationship, regardless of how fleeting, the more chances to seal a deal on your own terms. Therefore, even if you are bargaining with a store owner, try to engage in small talk that expresses a social interest in him, which is possibly the best way how to study Chinese. You’re sweetening the sugar, so to speak. Therefore, learn Chinese in order to bargain and chat.

Give out your business card with both arms outstretched and your name facing the recipient. Also, the Chinese are very particular on seniority and designation. Addressing a Chinese national with his proper designation and not only the common Mister or Miss will earn you brownie points.

Respect should be shown in terms of seniority and rank. “Face” is very important, so never humiliate a Chinese in front of others. Leave your terseness and tactlessness at home. Also, offer small gifts as tokens of appreciation and do not refuse a gift.

The more important the person is in rank and seniority, the more you must give respect. Don’t refuse a present that is given to you, and you have to also offer gifts yourself. Most importantly, never embarrass a Chinese person in public because “face” is very important to them.

Also remember not to walk around with a permafrown on your face, put down Mao Tse Tung and other revered Chinese leaders, praise the Japanese in any way, and air pro-Taiwan and pro-Tibet sentiments.

When in China, you’ll do very well to do as the Chinese do. For fluent communication, study Chinese online.



By: Dinah Leabeau

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With news stories focusing on human rights abuse, terrorism, air pollution and doping, it seems that the Olympics are not what they once were. The long-awaited Beijing Olympic Games finally begin this Friday but can they transcend the politics? Can we still be touched by the Olympic spirit?

Growing up in the 1980s, my Olympic heroes were Coe, Ovett and Cram, Carl Lewis, Daley Thompson, and Torvill and Dean. I loved the story of Jesse Owens versus the ***** and even our feeble Eddie the Eagle pulled at the heartstrings. Into the 1990s and beyond, Redgrave, Pinsent and Co were proper Olympians with Kelly Holmes and Amir Khan providing some inspirational Olympic stories in 2004.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be looking out for our men’s fours rowing team and little Tom Daley, diving for team GB at just 14 years old. But repression of political activists, detention without trial – featuring the scary Re-education Through Labour (RTL) scheme – and censorship in China are unfortunately overshadowing the competition for me and many others at the moment.

This is a great shame for the athletes involved but actually nothing new. Politics have been prominent in the Olympic Games since 1936 when ****** hijacked them as a piece of **** propaganda. Happily, black athletes like the American Jesse Owens were there to dispel the myth of Aryan supremacy.

The 1956 Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia were boycotted by various nations for numerous reasons and 1968 saw the volatile Mexico City games. Two black American medallists, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, gave the black power salute during the United States anthem and were subsequently expelled from the games. Student protesters also tried to use the Olympics to raise awareness of the authoritarian Mexican government.

Tragically, this ultimately culminated in the gunning down of more than 200 protesters by government forces in October 1968, just days before the games began. It emerged many years later that the US government had supported the Mexican authorities with weapons, ammunition, radios and riot control training in an attempt to prevent disruption to the Olympic Games.

The Munich games in 1972 were hijacked by Palestinian terrorists, with eleven Israeli athletes being kidnapped and eventually killed. Hard to imagine how the Olympics could recover from such a shocking event.

In 1976 the Olympics in Montreal were riddled with boycotts, drug allegations and debts. The 1980 Olympics saw the largest boycott ever with the United States and 61 other countries refusing to enter the games in protest against the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan. In response, the USSR, East Germany, Cuba and 14 other nations boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. Incidentally, this was the first Olympic games for the People’s Republic of China.

Numerous countries around the world have been close to boycotting the Beijing Games, but so far it does not look like this will happen. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) granted Beijing the games in July 2001 under the proviso that human rights in China would improve. Many people believe that the Olympics can be used as a positive political force, citing the banning of South Africa between 1964 and 1992. They believe that this was instrumental in forcing the country to allow black and white athletes to participate together in national sport, a significant step towards equal rights and the end of the oppressive apartheid regime.

According to Amnesty International’s website, Liu Jingmin, Vice-President of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee said in April 2001:

“By allowing Beijing to host the Games you will help the development of human rights.”

Jacques Rogge, President of the IOC declared at the time:

“We are convinced that the Olympic Games will improve the human rights record in China.”

In April 2008 Rogge had to remind the Chinese government of their commitment to human rights and ask them to respect it. Only time will tell if they do so.

Over the last twenty years or so, scandals involving perfomance-enhancing drugs have probably eclipsed the political Olympic storms. This has added to the negativity surrounding the Olympic Games and perhaps means that the audience is now more cynical and less impressed than in the old days.

But the majority of the athletes participating in the Olympics have legitimately reached the pinnacle of their sport and deserve our respect. Why not put aside our concerns and cynicism once the opening ceremony starts and just enjoy the thing? Accept that politics are part and parcel of any event involving the nations of the world, and ignore it. Why not let the Chinese people be proud of their athletes and their culture? Why not celebrate outstanding human achievement? Why not let the Olympics bring us together, just for a few weeks?



By: Maxine Clarke

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Who knew that building a web site and active online community would be the path to qualifying for the Beijing Olympic Games?

Craig Harkins, the owner and operator of Fencing.Net, recently learned that he had become one of only 5,600 members of media worldwide to earn a spot in Beijing covering the Olympic Games. The Atlantan will be going to Beijing in 2008 to report on the progress of the US Olympic Fencing Team as their members attempt to improve on the Gold and Bronze medal brought back from the 2004 Athens Games.

“When I was reporting on the Olympics in 2000, I was staying up late, using my Internet connection to view the fencing and relying on past interviews with the Olympians” said Craig Harkins. “After that, my goal was to make it to the next Olympics. When I learned that the USOC had awarded Fencing.Net a media credential for the Beijing Olympics, I did a little dance!”

Fencing.Net has been featured in the most recent publication of the United States Fencing Association and recognizedas a key site on Olympic Fencing by Yahoo!’s Olympic guide as far back as the 2000 Games. The site, found at http://www.fencing.net/ offers a wide range of information about the sport as well as up to date news, training tips, and a thriving community site where fencers can discuss the latest news and share tips and gossip.

“US Fencing is delighted to hear that fencing.net will be making the trip to Beijing. We know that the U.S. market will be provided with real-time news and interviews with the U.S. team and international athletes from across the world.” said Cindy Bent Findlay, Media Coordinator for the United States Fencing Association. “Fencing.net has taken reporting on our sport to a new level and so we look forward to more great coverage from Beijing.”

Since 1995, Fencing.Net has provided resources for beginning fencers as well as experienced fencers looking to improve their level of competitiveness in the sport. Now the company site has extended its services to help people find fencing clubs and camps in their area and to provide the necessary equipment for participation in the sport.

Harkins, who is taking a break from competitive fencing, now runs Fencing.Net as a full-time enterprise, having recently opened an online fencing equipment store at http://shop.fencing.net/.



By: Craig Harkins

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As the world waits in anticipation for the greatest sports spectacle on earth, here are some fun facts to wet your appetite for the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Beijing China was awarded the Games of the XXIX Olympiad on July 13, 2001 beating out stiff competition from Toronto Canada, Paris France, Istanbul Turkey and Osaka Japan. Even though the Olympics are viewed as a sporting event, it is tinged with political overtones. It has been proposed that the awarding of the Olympic Games to Beijing was an acknowledgment by the International Olympic Committee of China’s new superpower status on the world stage. This is despite the fact there have been numerous criticisms opposing the appointment due to concerns of human rights issues, a chaotic transportation system, and a serious air pollution problem.

With the eyes of the world on Beijing, the host city has tried to answer the pollution and transportation issues with a reduction of vehicles going into the city and limiting drivers the use of their cars to alternating days. As for the human rights violations, it is hoped that with worldwide scrutiny and inviting China to host the Games, better relations and dialogue will follow.

The Beijing Olympics will officially start on August 8, 2008 at 8:08:08 pm China Standard Time. The number eight holds special significance for the Chinese as a number of good fortune. The Chinese superstitious theme is also carried in its Olympic mascots. The Beijing Olympic mascots are known collectively as the FUWA, or good luck dolls in Chinese. However, not only do the FUWA dolls serve as heralds of good wishes from China, they also each represent a color in the Olympic rings. These Olympic mascots are stylized versions of popular animals in China and have the names of Beibei, Jingjing Huanhuan, Yingying, Nini. If you take the first syllables of their names, it spells Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni, or “Welcome to Beijing” in Chinese.

Another creative marketing idea to come out of the Beijing Olympic Games is the artistic representation of its official logo. Brush calligraphy is an ancient art form for the Chinese. Using a stamp seal and writing the Jing character in stylized calligraphy, the Beijing logo is known as the “Dancing Beijing” for its appearance of grace and fluidity.

Given the controversies and the fact that China is an emerging power with a very rich culture and history, the Beijing Olympic Games will surely be an interesting event to watch!



By: Mariam Ma

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