Congratulations to China

[TMU]

^^ Great post.

Each and every city offers a distinct culture. I have watched the Olympics since '92 and personally, I don't like to compare one city's opening/closing ceremony to another city's. It would be like comparing two cultures and debating what's better. The only subtle difference we notice is the use and advancement of technology.

[cowboyronnie]

Despite my lambasting them for the gymnastics age thing, congratulations to China for winning the Gold medal count and (IMO and the opinion of most I'm sure) having the best showing at the Olympics.

There were a lot of sleepless nights after we heard your initial thoughts, but we are relieved at your generosity of spirit.

ah-so,

China

[XcalibuR]

Great even in Beijing, it was really impressive from the start to the end. One of the best opening ceremony for the century. Only bad thing? NBC sucks, I live in West Coast, we have to wait for like 3 hours to watch these so called "live" game on HD. NBC SUCKS.Anyone know if NBC going to be the only broadcaster in London?>

IIRC NBC signed a contract for the next 3 olympic games (counting Beijing as the 1st) but I might be way off as well.

As for the best Opening Ceremonies and Overall Olympics, I still have to say that Sydney was Better.
Like the IOC President said, these games were remarkable tho.

though I didn't see any opening ceremonies of any olympic games live (I saw the Sydney one afterwards) I also have to say that Sydney 2000 are still the the olympic games that have to be topped and it will be tough to accomplish that.

I wonder how people think about Beijing 2008 after London 2012... IIRC a lot of people thought Athens 2004 were the best and after Sydney 2000 it was the same. there's no problem with that because the latest impressions are usually these that stick the most in your head but I wouldn't put too much stuff into Beijing 2008 if you ask me.

Most sports writers thought the athen's olympics was pretty much a flop, and even the people of Greece hated it because they spent so much money (they don't have nearly the financial resources as china does and still spent nearly 15 billion) and all their venues are now pretty much abandoned.

[dacher]

Ignoring the economic debacle, Greece was really good. Greece also had to spend a few billion extra on security too, which they hadn't budgeted for. China is always a police state -- so security doesn't cost them any more.

I watched an old video of greece 2004 opening ceremony -- China copied some of elements Greek opening/closing ceremony elements -- wire works, human statues, projection video. Greece really emphasized Greek history -- the Chinese where more about human spectacular of 1000s working together toward one goal.

[dougthonus]

There were a lot of sleepless nights after we heard your initial thoughts, but we are relieved at your generosity of spirit.

ah-so,

China

Don't worry China, we're cool. You can sleep easy now.

[galeon110]

I love the games... Much props to China but more so the people/athletes who competed in the games. I loved the 4 pm montage that NBC has with the Dreamer song. I wish that they would have played it over agian or have it on youtube.

This one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XX5vnm60os
It's such a good vid, brings tears to my eyes and makes me proud of Beijing and the Olympics in general.

[Gamer_4_life]

Hats off to china

[Blame Rasho]

Despite my lambasting them for the gymnastics age thing, congratulations to China for winning the Gold medal count and (IMO and the opinion of most I'm sure) having the best showing at the Olympics.

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancou ... oly,237384

China stripped of 2000 gymnastics medal for underage athlete

By Chris Chase

Follow Yahoo! Sports Olympic blog, Fourth-Place Medal on Facebook and Twitter.

China was stripped of a team all-around bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Olympics on Wednesday because it fielded an underage gymnast. Dong Fangxiao was discovered to be 14 at the time of those Games, two years younger than the minimum age requirement.

The medal will be given to the United States team which finished fourth in Sydney. The IOC has asked for China to return the medals "as soon as possible" so they can be reallocated to the U.S. team.

The action comes 20 months after China was accused of doctoring the ages of at least two of its gymnasts at the Beijing Games. Those allegations became a focal point of the 2008 Games but were quickly hushed up by the IOC after it cleared China following a sham investigation which basically consisted of the Olympic governing body asking China if they were really, really sure that the gymnasts were of age. When China said "yes" and produced passports and ID cards, the IOC dropped the matter, seemingly content to let the controversy pass and not risk offending its Olympic hosts.

Forget the fact that media reports and security experts found Chinese government documents which said 2008 team member He Kexin was 14 years old and not 16. Forget that asking China to produce documents proving its innocence would be like replacing drug tests with a simple questionaire in which athletes are asked whether they've ever doped or not. And, now, expect the IOC to forget that Dong had proper documentation at one point too, documentation which was clearly forged.

Dong was caught because somebody slipped up and printed a different birthdate on her credentials for Beijing. Instead of being born in on Jan. 20, 1983, as was claimed in Sydney, Dong's listed birthdate was Jan. 23, 1986. On her blog she says she was born in the Year of the Ox, which would fit with the Jan. 1986 birthday.

The International Gymnastics Federation looked into the allegations following the controversy in Beijing and recommended to the IOC that China be stripped of its medal from 2000 because of Dong's participation. The organization did so Wednesday at a board meeting in Dubai.

This action only happened because the evidence was so overwhelming that the IOC had to act. They didn't seek out the truth, it was thrust upon them. As the organization showed in Beijing, if it had its druthers, it would have swept this under the rug long ago.

Just because China cheated in 2000 doesn't necessarily mean those gymnasts were under 16 in Beijing. It does, however, lead to a lot more questions and should reopen the inquiry. Knowing the IOC, don't hold your breath.