2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, were celebrated in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24. The opening ceremony began at 08:08:08 pm CST (12:08:08 UTC) at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, People's Republic of China. During the games, 10,500 athletes competed in 302 events in 28 sports.
| Host city | Beijing, China | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Motto | One World, One Dream (Chinese: 同一个世界 同一个梦想) | ||
| Nations | 204 | ||
| Athletes | 10,942 (4,637 women & 6,305 men) | ||
| Events | 302 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) | ||
| Opening | 8 August | ||
| Closing | 24 August | ||
| Opened by | |||
| Cauldron | |||
| Stadium | Beijing National Stadium | ||
| Summer | |||
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| Winter | |||
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The Olympic games were awarded to Beijing after a vote of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on July 13 2001. The official logo of the games, titled "Dancing Beijing," features a stylised calligraphic character jīng (京, meaning capital), meaning the host city. The mascots of Beijing 2008 are the five Fuwa, each representing both a colour of the Olympic rings and a symbol of Chinese culture. The Olympic slogan, One World, One Dream, calls upon the world to unite in the Olympic spirit. Several new NOCs were also recognised by the IOC.
The Chinese government used the games to promote China as an important and powerful country, and spent a lot of money on building new facilities and transportation systems for the games.[2][3] The events were held in 37 venues, including 12 newly built buildings. In 2007, former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch said that he thinks that the Beijing games will be "the best in Olympic history".[4] Although there was some controversy about having the games in China, the IOC's former president Jacques Rogge said that the IOC has "absolutely no regrets" in choosing Beijing to host the 2008 games.[5]
Medal table
At the end of the Olympics, China won the total gold medal count, while the United States led the grand total medal count.[6]
Here is the top of the medal table at the end of the games.[6]
Medal numbers shown in bold are the highest in their section. China, the host nation is highlighted in lavender.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  China (CHN) |
51 | 21 | 28 | 100 |
| 2 |  United States (USA) |
36 | 38 | 36 | 110 |
| 3 |  Russia (RUS) |
23 | 21 | 28 | 72 |
| 4 |  Great Britain (GBR) |
19 | 13 | 15 | 47 |
| 5 |  Germany (GER) |
16 | 10 | 15 | 41 |
| 6 |  Australia (AUS) |
14 | 15 | 17 | 46 |
| 7 |  South Korea (KOR) |
13 | 10 | 8 | 31 |
| 8 |  Japan (JPN) |
9 | 6 | 10 | 25 |
| 9 |  Italy (ITA) |
8 | 10 | 10 | 28 |
| 10 |  France (FRA) |
7 | 16 | 17 | 40 |
2008 Summer Olympics Media
Olympic Green, from above
Beijing National Stadium, or "Bird's Nest"
National Aquatics Center or "Water Cube"
A map of the Olympic venues in Beijing. Several expressways encircle the center of the city, providing for quick transportation around the city and between venues.
Inside Beijing National Stadium during the Games. Olympic cauldron in background.
US President George W. Bush at the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Olympic Torch in Vilnius, Lithuania
Route of the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay
Notes
- ↑ IOC records state Hu Jintao opened the Beijing Games as "President", de jure head of state. Though Hu Jintao was also de facto ruler as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, that title is not reflected in IOC records.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 International Olympic Committee (9 October 2014). "Factsheet - Opening Ceremony of the Games of the Olympiad". Press release. https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Reference_documents_Factsheets/Opening_ceremony_of_the_Games_of_the_Olympiad.pdf. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
- ↑ China's coming out party. Toronto Star. August 2007. https://www.thestar.com/Sports/Olympics/article/242172.
- ↑ 2008-The Year of China?. BusinessCenter.TV. 2007-08-07. http://www.webcastr.com/videos/travel_leisure/2008-the-year-of-china.html. Retrieved 2008-01-02.[dead link]
- ↑ Beijing 2008 will be best-ever Games: Samaranch. BOCOG. 2007-06-25. http://en.beijing2008.cn/culture/festivals/exhibition/n214101234.shtml. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
- ↑ Abrahamson, Alan (2008-08-02). "Absolutely no regrets" in coming to China, IOC president says. NBC. http://www.nbcolympics.com/blogs/blog=alanabrahamsonsblog/postid=163687.html. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Official Olympics Games medal table Retrieved 18:00 (UTC), 31/08/08 Archived 5 August 2009 at WebCite
 Olympic Games
| ||
|---|---|---|
| Summer Games: 1896, 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912, (1916), 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028 | ||
| Winter Games: 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 | ||
| Athens 2004 — Turin 2006 — Beijing 2008 — Vancouver 2010 — London 2012 — Sochi 2014 — Rio 2016 — Pyeongchang 2018 — Tokyo 2020 Games in italics will be held in the future, and those in (brackets) were cancelled because of war. See also: Ancient Olympic Games | ||
| Youth Olympic Games
| ||
|---|---|---|
| Summer Games: 2010, 2014, 2018 | ||
| Winter Games: 2012, 2016 | ||
| Singapore 2010 — Innsbruck 2012 — Nanjing 2014 | ||