2008 Summer Olympics

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Games of the XXIX. Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics logo
One world, one dream
Venue: Beijing ( People's Republic of China )
Stadion: Beijing National Stadium
Opening ceremony: August 8, 2008
Closing ceremony: August 24, 2008
Opened by: Hu Jintao (President of
the People's Republic of China)
Olympic oath : Zhang Yining (athlete)
Huang Liping (referee)
Disciplines: 42 (28 sports)
Competitions: 302
Countries: 204
Athletes: 11,126
(6280 men, 4746 women)
← Athens 2004
London 2012 →
Medal table
space country G S. B. Ges.
1 China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China China 48 22nd 30th 100
2 United StatesUnited States United States 36 39 37 112
3 RussiaRussia Russia 24 13 23 60
4th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Great Britain 19th 13 19th 51
5 GermanyGermany Germany 16 11 14th 41
6th AustraliaAustralia Australia 14th 15th 17th 46
7th Korea SouthSouth Korea South Korea 13 11 8th 32
8th JapanJapan Japan 9 8th 8th 25th
9 ItalyItaly Italy 8th 9 10 27
10 FranceFrance France 7th 16 20th 43
... ... ... ... ... ...
34 SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland 2 1 4th 7th
64 AustriaAustria Austria - 1 2 3
Complete medal table

The 2008 Summer Olympics (officially called the XXIX Olympiad Games ) were held from August 8 to 24, 2008, mainly in the Chinese capital Beijing . It was the first Summer Olympics in China. Beijing received the award of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on July 13, 2001.

11,126 athletes competed in the 302 competitions from 28 sports, which is one more competition than the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens . 37 competition venues were used to host the events. Some of them were outside Beijing, such as Qingdao (sailing), Qinhuangdao , Shanghai , Shenyang and Tianjin (all football). In addition to the National Olympic Committee (NOK) of the People's Republic of China, the National Olympic Committee of Hong Kong co-hosted, since the equestrian competitions were held there.

Applications

A total of ten cities applied to host the 2008 Summer Olympics: Bangkok , Havana , Cairo , Kuala Lumpur , Seville , Osaka , Toronto , Paris , Istanbul and the favorite Beijing . The last five were allowed by the IOC to choose the venue - with only Paris, Toronto and Beijing having a chance of receiving the Games and Istanbul and Osaka being seen as outsiders.

Paris applied to host the third Summer Olympics after 1900 and 1924 . Expenditures of 2.3 billion euros for the infrastructure and 2.2 billion euros for the organization were planned. The approval of the application was high among the French population and politics. The attempt was made to set itself apart from the favorite Beijing primarily through ethical issues. There would be no human rights violations and no serious environmental problems in France . The Stade de France was to be used as the Olympic stadium . In addition, the beach volleyball games were to be held under the Eiffel Tower and the riding competitions in front of the Invalides Dome. The Roland Garros Stadium would have hosted the tennis competitions.

Toronto advertised the multicultural society of Canada . The organizers assumed expenditures of 10.3 billion euros for infrastructure and 2.3 billion euros for the organization. The organizers promised games of short distances, as 25 of 28 sports facilities should be accessible within 15 minutes by public transport. They also aspired to become the third city , after Calgary and Los Angeles , to make a profit from the Olympics. Toronto wanted to learn from the mistakes of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal , which still suffers from the debt caused by the event.

After the failed application in 1993 to host the 2000 Summer Olympics, which Beijing had lost to Sydney by only two votes , the Chinese capital applied for the second time. The planned costs were 23 billion euros for the infrastructure and 3.6 billion for the organization. They applied for an Olympic village planned in the north of Beijing, which would also contain most of the sports facilities, and beach volleyball competitions on Tian'anmen Square . In addition, the route of the Olympic flame was already planned, which should also lead across the Himalayas . After the first failure, there were radical changes in the city. For example, factories in backyards were closed, which should lead to better air quality, and old, winding neighborhoods were redesigned. Green strips were laid out in the city and modern high-rise developments were built. The application met with criticism from human rights activists as China carries out the highest number of death sentences in the world. In the specific context of the Games, there were fears of forced relocation. It was also criticized that schools and hospitals were better financed with the large amount of money. In the weeks leading up to the decision to award the Games in Moscow, there were many bid support events that were circulated through the media. For example, 200,000 school children made a 2008 meter long poster that was hung on the Great Wall of China . The European Parliament formulated the criticism of the countries it represented in a resolution.

Allocation of the games

Result of the choice of the venue in 2008
place country Round 1 round 2
Beijing China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China 44 56
Toronto CanadaCanada Canada 20th 22nd
Paris FranceFrance France 15th 18th
Istanbul TurkeyTurkey Turkey 17th 9
Osaka JapanJapan Japan 6th -

Beijing prevailed on July 13, 2001 at the 112th IOC session in Moscow against Toronto , Paris , Istanbul and Osaka . To describe the political environment of these applicants, the IOC Evaluation Commission used terms in its evaluation report that are commonly used to describe forms of government and government. In contrast to this, the Beijing Commission adopted a Chinese self-description of the political system with “working for China”. Furthermore, the commission said on China: “The general presence of strong governmental control and support is healthy…”.

The award of the Summer Olympics to Beijing was not the first time the IOC's decision led to political controversy. Further examples are Berlin (1936), Mexico City (1968), Moscow (1980), Los Angeles (1984) and Seoul (1988). The decision to go to Beijing was clearer and quicker than expected. Before the vote, each applicant presented himself with a 45-minute presentation and solicited votes. The favorite Beijing prevailed after two rounds of voting. There were four choices in choosing the location for the 2000 Summer Olympics , as well as the 2004 Summer Olympics. After the Games were awarded to Beijing, Deputy Prime Minister Li Lanqing declared on July 17, 2001 : “The 2008 Olympic bid will win an example of international recognition of the social stability of China, economic progress and the healthy life of the Chinese people. "

Organization and preparation

The People's Republic of China has invested $ 40 billion in sports facilities and infrastructure projects. These were implemented by around 30,000 workers. The organizers assumed that all sports facilities would be completed by the end of 2007 at the latest, but the plan to be ready long before the start of the games had to be abandoned due to exploding costs, bottlenecks in steel production and technical problems. 3,000 families were forcibly relocated for the construction of the Olympic sites, which cost around 155 million euros. The Geneva-based organization COHRE (Center on Housing Rights and Evictions) fears that 1.5 million people have been forcibly relocated because of the Olympic Games. The organizing committee and the Chinese Foreign Ministry replied that only 6,037 people were affected by resettlement. According to other sources, no fewer than 300,000 residents had been resettled by May 2005.

legislation

On April 10, 2006, Beijing City Council announced that in anticipation of the 2008 Summer Olympics, more than 70 local laws and regulations would be enacted to keep undesirable people out of the city. It affects residents without a residence permit for Beijing, migrant workers, beggars and people with intellectual disabilities. Border controls and surveillance of non-governmental organizations are to be tightened and all protests are to be banned. Beijing residents are encouraged to stay at home during the games. In addition, people who are critical of the regime are to be prosecuted more severely. Dozens of people who protested the resettlement have been arrested by the Beijing police.

The Beijing city council has issued new rules of conduct to encourage police officers to behave better. Brochures circulated encourage officials to stop swearing, give up arrogant behavior, and refrain from ignoring people who want to report a crime. Violations should be punished. The authorities hope for a better image by the beginning of the games.

Competition venues and Olympic village

Map of the competition venues in Beijing
National Stadium in Beijing ("Bird's Nest")
National swimming center ("water cube")

The Olympic Village is located at the northern end of an axis that runs through Beijing in a north-south direction and on which, among other things, Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City are located. The round structure of the National Stadium and the angular shape of the National Swimming Center , which lie on both sides of these axes, are further elements of the architectural symbolism.

New buildings in Beijing

Existing plants in Beijing

Temporary facilities in Beijing

Plants outside of Beijing

Logo, mascot and slogan

The logo of the 2008 Summer Olympics is called “Dancing Beijing”. It is modeled on a Chinese seal and shows the calligraphic characters 京 , jing (“capital” from 北京 , Bei-jing ), which is modeled on the shape of an athlete , against a red background . The open arms of the athlete are supposed to symbolize Beijing's invitation to the world.

The five official mascots of the games are the Fuwa ( 福 娃 , literally “children of happiness”), consisting of the carp Bèibèi ( 贝贝 ), the giant panda Jīngjīng ( 晶晶 ), the Olympic torch Huānhuān ( 欢欢 ), the chiru Yíngyíng ( 迎 迎 ) and the swallow Nini ( 妮妮 ). They were presented to the public on November 11, 2005, exactly 1000 days before the opening of the games, and represent the sports fields of swimming, martial arts and weight training, ball sports, gymnastics and athletics. The mascots also symbolize the elements of the five-element teaching of Daoism : water, wood, fire, earth and metal. In addition, the colors of the figures correspond to those of the Olympic rings.

Each of the five names is chosen to match a plausible name for a toddler. If you put them together, however, they sound almost identical to the sentence 北京 欢迎 你 , which means something like "Beijing welcomes you". In Germany, the mascot is marketed under the name “Die Freundliche Fünf”.

“One world, one dream” ( Chinese  同 一个 世界 同 一个 梦想 , Pinyin Tóng Yíge Shìjiè Tóng Yíge Mèngxiǎng ) is the motto of the 2008 Summer Olympics. It was announced on June 26, 2005 by the Organizing Committee.

Torch relay

Originally planned route of the torch relay
The torch relay in London was only possible under massive security precautions

On April 26, 2007, the Organizing Committee announced the route of the torch relay . The motto of the run was "Journey of Harmony" and lasted 130 days. The torch was carried over a distance of 137,000 kilometers, making the 2008 torch relay the longest in history.

The Olympic flame was lit on March 24, 2008 in Olympia , Greece . The torch was brought to Beijing by plane, where it arrived on March 31st. From Beijing, the torch was carried through all continents except Antarctica. In addition, the route led along the ancient Silk Road , which symbolized the millennia-old connections between China and the rest of the world.

Designed by a Lenovo team, the torch was modeled after a Chinese scroll and used a traditional Chinese design known as the "Happy Cloud". This refers to the five elements that make up the universe (metal, wood, water, fire and earth). The torch had to be designed so that the flame could continue to burn even with winds of 65 kilometers per hour and rainfall of 50 millimeters per hour.

As planned by the organizing committee, the Olympic flame was carried to Mount Everest , the highest mountain on earth, on May 8th without notice - the scheduled torch relay through the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province was postponed by a few hours . For this purpose, construction work began in June 2007 on an asphalt road from Tingri County in Xigazê administrative district in Tibet to the base camp on Mount Everest; the cost of construction was $ 19.7 million. Environmentalists had previously expressed concerns that the road might harm the balance of the fragile mountain region, but the government had denied any negative consequences. The action was broadcast live on Chinese state television. The original plans included a visit to Taiwan , but the Taiwanese government refused to do so.

Massive protests accompanied both the start of the torch relay in Greece and the stages in London and Paris. Because of massive protests against human rights violations in China and the Chinese reaction to the unrest that had recently broken out in Tibet , the torch relay in Paris was interrupted by police on April 7th. In the meantime, the torch was extinguished several times and re-lit with the lantern that was carried along. There was a scandal in Paris when demonstrators attacked a Chinese athlete in a wheelchair. The French President Nicolas Sarkozy then wrote a letter of apology to the wheelchair user.

For the torch relay in San Francisco, the route was massively changed to avoid protests. When the torch was handed over to the torchbearer Majora Carter, nominated by Coca-Cola, there was a scandal. A few seconds after the torch was handed over, the official runner pulled a Tibetan flag out of her sleeve to protest human rights violations in Tibet. Within a few seconds, the flag was torn from her by Chinese paramilitary security forces. The runner was forcibly pushed off the route by police officers and the torch was carried on by another runner.

The chairman of Japan's National Public Security Commission announced that Japan will not accept Chinese security forces at the Olympic torch relay in their own country. The planned starting point of the route in Japan in Zenkō-ji in Nagano was canceled by the local priests.

Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai also canceled her participation in the Olympic torch relay in Tanzania in protest against Chinese human rights violations . These Olympic Games no longer had a unifying character, they divided people, Maathai explained.

The torch relay was interrupted from May 19-22 to mourn the victims of the earthquake in China. The government ordered three minutes of silence on the first day. For the other two, amusement activities were suspended and flags were hoisted at half mast across the country. The torch relay route was then changed and the Sichuan province, which was affected by the earthquake, was not visited until the beginning of August as the last stop before Beijing.

Attendees

Attendees

The number of 202 participating nations in the 2004 Summer Olympics was exceeded in Beijing. 204 nations took part, as the IOC recognized the National Olympic Committees of the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu . In addition, Serbia and Montenegro started separately after the independence referendum on May 21, 2006. South Korea and North Korea were negotiating a joint team for the Summer Olympic Games after marching in together several times at opening ceremonies. However, due to disagreement regarding the allocation of the quota places, no agreement was reached.

Contrary to previous announcements, Iraq was allowed to take part in the games. This, however, only with two athletes, as the registration deadlines for archery, weightlifting, rowing and judo had already expired for the remaining five. By decree of May 20, 2008, the Iraqi government ordered the dissolution of the National Olympic Committee . This interference with the autonomy of the national committee led to the IOC's suspension of the Iraqi NOK in early June. On July 29th it was decided that the athletes could take part.

Shortly before the start of the Games, the Brunei team , which would have consisted of two athletes, was expelled by the IOC. The country's National Olympic Committee missed the registration deadline. Because of the military conflict between Georgia, South Ossetia and Russia, Georgia considered on August 9, 2008, to withdraw its entire delegation from Beijing. At the request of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili , the team stayed in China and continued to take part in the competitions.

Europe (5381 athletes from 49 nations)
Asia (2132 athletes from 45 nations)
America (2130 athletes from 42 nations)
Africa (820 athletes from 53 nations)
Oceania (677 athletes from 15 nations)
(Number of athletes)
* first participation in summer games

Competition program

During the Summer Olympics in Beijing, 302 competitions (166 for men, 127 for women, three mixed and six open competitions) in 28 sports / 42 disciplines were held. This was one competition and two more disciplines than in Athens in 2004 - the number of sports remained the same. The changes are detailed below:

  • In cycling , in the new cycling discipline BMX, there was one decision each for men and women in the race discipline, but the track time trial for men and women was omitted.
  • In fencing , the men's foil team competition and the women's epee team competition were replaced by a foil team competition and a saber team competition among women.
  • In athletics , the women’s 3000 meter obstacle course was added.
  • In swimming , the open water swimming discipline with the 10 kilometers for men and women became Olympic.
  • In table tennis , the previous double competitions have been replaced by team competitions (men and women).
  • When shooting , the men's running target and the women's double trap were omitted .
  • In sailing there have been several changes. The open boat classes Laser and 49er became men's classes, while the men's Finn-Dinghy class became an open boat class. The women's class Europe has been replaced by Laser Radial. In addition, the Mistral boat class in windsurfing has been replaced by RS: X for men and women.

The Olympic sports / disciplines

Number of competitions in brackets

Time schedule

Time schedule
discipline Wed.
6.		 Thursday
7.		 Fri.
8.		 Sat.
9.		 Sun
10.		 Mon.
11.		 Tuesday
12		 Wed.
13.		 Thursday
14.		 Fri.
15.		 Sat
16.		 Sun.
17.		 Mon.
18.		 Tuesday
19.		 Wed.
20.		 Thursday
21.		 Fr.
22.		 Sat.
23.		 Sun.
24.		 Decision-
disk-
applications
August
Olympic rings without rims.svg Opening ceremony
Badminton pictogram.svg badminton 1 2 2 5
Baseball pictogram.svg baseball 1 1
Basketball pictogram.svg basketball 1 1 2
Archery pictogram.svg Archery 1 1 1 1 4th
Boxing pictogram.svg Boxing 5 6th 11
Fencing pictogram.svg fencing 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 10
Football pictogram.svg Soccer 1 1 2
Weightlifting pictogram.svg Weightlifting 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 15th
Handball pictogram.svg Handball 1 1 2
Field hockey pictogram.svg hockey 1 1 2
Judo pictogram.svg Judo 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 14th
Canoeing Canoeing (flatwater) pictogram.svg Canoe racing 6th 6th 12
Canoeing (slalom) pictogram.svg Canoe slalom 2 2 4th
Athletics pictogram.svg athletics 2 4th 6th 6th 5 3 6th 7th 7th 1 47
Modern pentathlon pictogram.svg Modern pentathlon 1 1 2
Cycling Cycling (track) pictogram.svg train 1 3 1 2 3 10
Cycling (BMX) pictogram.svg BMX 2 2
Cycling (mountain biking) pictogram.svg Mountain bike 2 2
Cycling (road) pictogram.svg Street 1 1 2 4th
Equestrian sport Equestrian Dressage pictogram.svg dressage 1 1 2
Equestrian Jumping pictogram.svg Leap 1 1 2
Equestrian Eventing pictogram.svg versatility 2 2
Wrestling Wrestling Freestyle pictogram.svg Freestyle 2 2 2 2 3 11
Wrestling pictogram.svg Greco-Roman 2 2 3 7th
Rowing pictogram.svg rowing 7th 7th 14th
Shooting pictogram.svg shoot 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 15th
Swimming sport Open water swimming pictogram.svg Open water swimming 1 1 2
Swimming pictogram.svg swim 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 4th 32
Synchronized swimming pictogram.svg Synchronized swimming 1 1 2
Water polo pictogram.svg Water polo 1 1 2
Diving pictogram.svg Diving 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8th
Sailing pictogram.svg sailing 3 2 2 2 2 11
Softball pictogram.svg Softball 1 1
Taekwondo pictogram.svg Taekwondo 2 2 2 2 8th
Tennis pictogram.svg tennis 1 3 4th
Table tennis pictogram.svg Table tennis 1 1 1 1 4th
Triathlon pictogram.svg Triathlon 1 1 2
Gymnastics Gymnastics (artistic) pictogram.svg Gymnastics 1 1 1 1 4th 3 3 14th
Gymnastics (rhythmic) pictogram.svg Rhythmic sports gymnastics 1 1 2
Gymnastics (trampoline) pictogram.svg Trampoline exercise 1 1 2
volleyball Volleyball (beach) pictogram.svg beach volleyball 1 1 2
Volleyball (indoor) pictogram.svg volleyball 1 1 2
Olympic rings without rims.svg Closing ceremony
decisions 7th 14th 13 19th 17th 15th 18th 27 37 18th 20th 11 21st 21st 32 12 302
Wed.
6.		 Thursday
7.		 Fri.
8.		 Sat.
9.		 Sun
10.		 Mon.
11.		 Tuesday
12		 Wed.
13.		 Thursday
14.		 Fri.
15.		 Sat
16.		 Sun.
17.		 Mon.
18.		 Tuesday
19.		 Wed.
20.		 Thursday
21.		 Fr.
22.		 Sat.
23.		 Sun.
24.
August

Color legend

  • Opening ceremony
  • Competition day (no decisions)
  • Competition day (x decisions)
  • Closing ceremony

    • Ceremonies

    Opening ceremony

    Performers dance on an illuminated ball

    The opening ceremony began on August 8, 2008 at 8:08 p.m. local time in the Beijing National Stadium, which corresponds to 2 p.m. Central European Summer Time . A total of 91,000 spectators followed the spectacle in the stadium, including 80 heads of state and government. The director was Zhang Yimou, a well-known Chinese filmmaker. In the week before the opening, several dress rehearsals were held in front of an audience and the first television images were published.

    The event consisted of three parts. In the first, the host country introduced itself, in the second the athletes marched in, in the third the Olympic Games were officially opened. The focus of the first part, which presented episodes from 5000 years of Chinese history , was the Chinese inventions gunpowder , papermaking , printing and the compass . Gunpowder, for example, was depicted with fireworks , the art of printing by dancers who repeatedly formed the characters for harmony in a choreography . There were also references to the Great Wall of China , the Chinese Opera , the Silk Road and Taijiquan . Musically, parts of this show were accompanied by Lang Lang on the piano, during whose performance dancers formed the dove of peace and the “ bird's nest ”. At the end of this part of the show, Chinese space travel was depicted when a large globe appeared. Sarah Brightman and Liu Huan sang the official Olympic song You And Me in a duet on the globe . During part of the fireworks, previously recorded images were shown instead of the live images. It was a presentation of a virtual fireworks display, which did not take place live, but was recorded over the course of a year and processed in the computer and represented footsteps.

    The athletes from the 204 participating nations then marched into the stadium in the order of their Chinese names, with the exception of Greece and China, who entered the stadium first and last. Artists from five different continents took turns making music during the almost two-hour parade. In contrast to 2004 and 2000, the two Korean states entered separately again; here the order was broken, as one wanted to prevent South Korea and North Korea from invading directly one after the other. North Korea was moved back three places in the order. The official part of the event followed the invasion of the nations. Organizing Committee President Liu Qi and IOC President Jacques Rogge each gave a brief address before Hu Jintao , President of the People's Republic of China, officially declared the Games open. Afterwards, the Olympic flag carried by eight Chinese athletes was hoisted into the stadium and the Olympic anthem was sung by a children's choir. Table tennis player Zhang Yining and referee Huang Liping swore the Olympic oath on behalf of all athletes and referees . The Olympic torch was carried through the stadium by eight eminent Chinese athletes, such as China's first gold medalist at the Olympic Games or Gao Min , before it was handed over to Li Ning . He was pulled to the edge of the stadium roof and completed a lap on a 360-degree projection screen that showed Li Ning the previous stages of the torch relay before he lit the Olympic flame. At the end of the event, Jackie Chan sang the official countdown song We Are Ready .

    In Germany, an average of 7.7 million viewers watched the opening ceremony on television. At the peak, when the German athletes marched in, there were 9.1 million viewers. According to the state news agency Xinhua, 842 million viewers in China watched the opening ceremony. That corresponds to an audience rating of 90 percent.

    Closing ceremony

    The closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics began on August 24 at 8 p.m. local time. At the beginning there was a part of the show in which drummers and dancers performed with bells. Different carriages with drums symbolized different ethnic groups that live in the People's Republic of China. This part of the closing event was followed by the invasion of the standard-bearers, which the athletes followed. At the end of the march, the medal winners of the marathon, which had taken place in the morning, were awarded.

    Participants of the games during the closing ceremony in the national stadium

    This was followed by the official part of the event, at the beginning of which twelve volunteers were honored on behalf of eight of the nine newly elected members of the IOC's Athletes' Commission in Beijing . Then the head of the organizing committee, Liu Qi , and the president of the IOC, Jacques Rogge , appeared. In his speech, the OC President thanked everyone involved and athletes, the President of the IOC joined in and greeted the participants in the following Summer Paralympics in 2008 . Rogge said the world learned a lot about China and China learned a lot about the world. He also described the 2008 Summer Olympics as real games that were extraordinary . At the end of his speech, he declared the Beijing Games over and invited the world's youth to London in 2012.

    This official part was followed by a short presentation of the venue for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London . The Olympic flag was presented by Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong to Jacques Rogge and from him to London Mayor Boris Johnson . A red double-decker bus drove into the stadium, the roof of which opened, whereupon the singer Leona Lewis and the guitarist Jimmy Page appeared. They performed the Led Zeppelin hit Whole Lotta Love . Then David Beckham appeared and kicked a ball into the audience.

    The London part of the celebration was followed by the symbolic depiction of the farewell on an airplane staircase. The music for this part was written by the only composer who was not from China, Klaus Badelt . The Olympic flame went out while artists performed this on a tower of remembrance . They also displayed the logo of the games. Six singers from all over the world performed, followed by Plácido Domingo and the Chinese singer Song Zuying , who sang the song Flamme der Liebe together. They were followed by another singing contribution by Wei Wei , Jackie Chan , Andy Lau , Joey Yung and Emil Chau , to which representatives of the 56 ethnic groups marched and danced. After almost two hours, the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics ended with a large firework display.

    Outstanding athletes and achievements

    The most successful participants
    rank athlete country sport gold silver bronze total
    1 Michael Phelps United StatesUnited States United States swim 8th - - 8th
    2 Chris Hoy United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom Cycling 3 - - 3
    2 Stephanie Rice AustraliaAustralia Australia swim 3 - - 3
    2 Zou Kai China People's RepublicPeople's Republic of China People's Republic of China do gymnastics 3 - - 3

    By far the most successful athlete of these Olympic Games was the American swimmer Michael Phelps ; he started in eight disciplines, won eight gold medals and set seven world records and one other Olympic record. He exceeded the Olympic medal record of Mark Spitz , who had won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich . In addition, Phelps became the most successful Olympic athlete of all games to date because of his eight medals and the six he won at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Such medal-rich successes are almost only possible when swimming.

    The British track cyclist Chris Hoy , the Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice and the Chinese gymnast Zou Kai were three-time Olympic champions . Another outstanding athlete was the Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt , who won gold in both the 100-meter run and the 200-meter run . However, his victory in the 4 x 100 meter relay and the new world record that was set up were subsequently revoked (→ section on doping ).

    A total of 45 world records were set at these Olympic Games, 25 of them in swimming (see World Records at the 2008 Summer Olympics ). Later follow-up examinations revealed that some of these records had come from doped athletes.

    doping

    On August 18, 2008, the Greek Olympic champion of 2004 in the 400-meter hurdles, Fani Chalkia , was excluded from participation by the IOC because of doping . The artificial steroid methyltrienolone was detected in a test by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

    Other cases detected so far are the North Korean shooter Kim Jong-su , the one silver and one bronze medal was stripped, the Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno and Vietnamese gymnast Thi Ngan Thuong Thu .

    A fifth doping case became known on August 20, 2008. The Ukrainian silver medalist in the heptathlon , Lyudmyla Blonska , has been shown to have taken the banned anabolic steroid methyltestosterone . On August 21, she was suspended by the IOC's Disciplinary Committee after the B sample was also positive, and on August 22, she was disqualified and excluded from the Games.

    On August 21, 2008, the German show jumper Christian Ahlmann and his horse Cöster and three other show jumpers from other nations were excluded from the games, as the substance capsaicin, which is prohibited by the regulations, was found in the A-samples of their horses . The other show jumpers are the Brazilian Bernardo Alves , the Irish Denis Lynch and the Norwegian Tony André Hansen .

    When Hansen was disqualified, his result in the team competition was counted as a strike result and the Norwegian bronze medal went to Switzerland instead. The final decision was made by the world equestrian federation Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) on December 23, 2008.

    The two Belarusian hammer throwers Wadsim Dzewjatouski and Iwan Zichan were subsequently disqualified for doping on December 11, 2008. Silver medalist Dzewjatouski and third-placed Zichan had to surrender their medals because they tested positive for testosterone after the hammer throw final in Beijing . The Polish canoeist Adam Seroczyński , who originally came fourth in a two-person kayak over 1000 meters, was disqualified for doping with Clenbuterol .

    An observer group led by Sarah Lewis , Secretary General of the World Ski Federation, accuses the IOC of serious violations of doping controls. 300 doping samples would be missing and the result of another 140 would have been embellished. 102 National Olympic Committees did not comply with their reporting obligation to the IOC, and they did not have any consequences.

    Of the 4770 doping tests that were carried out in Beijing, 847 samples were subsequently tested for erythropoietin in the IOC's laboratories in the spring of 2009 . This examination of the samples gave positive results at the Olympic runner-up in the road race Davide Rebellin and at the Olympic champion over 1500 meters in athletics Rashid Ramzi .

    On May 17, 2016, the IOC announced that it had convicted another 31 athletes from the 2008 Summer Olympics of doping during follow-up checks. The IOC issued another publication on the subject of follow-up inspections on July 22, 2016. On August 16, 2016, the IOC announced that Julia Schermoschanskaja had tested positive for the anabolic steroids Turinabol and Stanozolol. The Russian 4 x 100 meter relay was then stripped of the gold medal.

    In August 2016 it was announced that the three Chinese Olympic champions Cao Lei, Liu Chunhong and Chen Xiexia had been doped. The Belarusian silver medalist Andrej Rybakou , who had already been doped earlier , was convicted again. All of them are now threatened with the withdrawal of first place and the cancellation of their results. The weightlifter Nadezhda Evstjuchina won bronze in the class up to 75 kilograms, her teammate Marina Schainowa silver in the class up to 58 kilograms. The Russian 400-meter runner Tatjana Firowa was also disqualified. She won silver with the relay, which was excluded a few weeks ago after a positive follow-up test by Anastasija Kapatschinskaja. The Armenian Olympic third in weightlifting up to 69 kilograms, Tigran Martirosjan, was also noticed afterwards with a positive test, as did Alexandru Dudoglo from Moldova, ninth in the class up to 69 kilograms, and Intigam Zairov from Azerbaijan, ninth in the class up to 85 kilograms .

    On September 1, 2016, the Cuban discus thrower Yarelys Barrios was stripped of her silver medal; the prohibited substance acetazolamide was detected. Sprinter Samuel Adelebari Francis (Qatar / 29) was also deleted from the results lists; he was proven doping with stanozolol.

    On October 6, 2016, the IOC announced that Anna Tschitscherowa was subsequently disqualified from the 2008 Olympic Games because traces of the anabolic Turinabol were found in a retest of her doping samples .

    On January 25, 2017, the IOC announced that it had subsequently convicted and disqualified the Russian long and triple jumper Tatiana Lebedewa and the Jamaican 4 x 100 meter relay runner Nesta Carter . At Lebedewa, who had won a silver medal in the long and triple jump competitions, the doping agent Turinabol was detected in follow-up tests . Carter, who together with Usain Bolt , Michael Frater and Asafa Powell won the gold medal in the Jamaican 4 x 100 meter relay, was subsequently proven to have taken methylhexanamine . The entire Jamaican season was then disqualified.

    Criticism and problems

    Human rights

    The IOC's election of Beijing met with cautious protest from international observers. In particular, the award of the games to a country with a low standard of human rights was criticized. Amnesty International last drew attention in April 2008 to the world's highest number of executed death sentences, torture and so-called education through work , the widespread imprisonment without trial and judgment, and restricted media freedom. In December 2007 the organization launched its “Gold for Human Rights” campaign in Berlin, which is now supported by numerous athletes and celebrities.

    At the end of July 2008 it became known that China, with the approval of the IOC, was preventing free internet research in the Olympic press center. Sites critical of China such as Amnesty International were not accessible. After international protests against the censorship measures and massive criticism of the IOC, China eased the censorship measures and individual websites such as the BBC or the English-language Wikipedia were accessible again. Contrary to the agreement of the BOCOG Organizing Committee, unhindered internet use was still not possible.

    Reporters Without Borders planned to call for a boycott of China's restricted freedom of expression and press, and pointed to the positive effects of previous Olympic boycotts. After the first official visit to China in January 2007 and meetings with Chinese authorities, the organization refrained from calling for a boycott. Nevertheless, she continues to denounce the suppression of free speech and human rights in China. The Center for Housing Rights and Displacement COHRE criticized the fact that 1.5 million people were forcibly relocated because of construction projects in connection with the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

    Tibet policy

    Other calls for boycotts by human rights organizations and celebrities refer to the Chinese occupation of Tibet and China's cooperation with the Sudanese government regardless of the Darfur conflict . For this reason, Hollywood director Steven Spielberg withdrew his participation in the opening ceremony in February 2008. The Association of Burmese Monks All Burma Monks' Alliance has announced a call for a boycott in the event that China should repeatedly use its right of veto in the UN Security Council to prevent a resolution against the suppression of the demonstrations in Myanmar in 2007 . At the end of 2007, many Western journalists used the Christmas break to arrest critics of the Olympic Games.

    On March 22, 2008, in the run-up to the Olympic Games, 30 well-known Chinese intellectuals appealed to their government to seek dialogue with the Dalai Lama and to respect human rights in Tibet. A special Tibetan fire was symbolically lit on the site of ancient Olympia in Greece, which is to be brought to the Indian-Tibetan border by the time the Olympic Games open. Massive protests by exiled Tibetans and demonstrators from many other countries around the world were planned for the torch-lit ceremony in Olympia on March 24, 2008 (Easter Monday). Greece tried to shield the event with a huge contingent of heavily armed police officers. As expected, there was an incident at the torchlight ceremony: three black-clad pro-Tibet activists delayed the lighting of the Olympic flame with shouts and black flags.

    Ecological aspects

    Some concerns were raised about the air quality in Beijing and its potential impact on athletes. Although Beijing promised to cut air pollution during its 2001 candidacy, research shows that air pollution will be blown over from neighboring provinces even if the city were to drastically cut emissions. The researcher Marco Cardinale, who works for the British Olympic Association (BOA), believes that air pollution - coupled with heat and high humidity - will make exceptional performance in endurance sports impossible. The Chinese government, on the other hand, cited the relocation of a large steel mill as an example of its efforts to improve air quality. She also assured that “a blue sky” is a prerequisite not only for Beijing, but also for the neighboring regions. A spacious Olympic Park with many trees and lakes is also intended to serve as a “green lung”.

    Meteorological studies in April 2007 have shown that based on the precipitation data for the past 30 years during the opening and closing ceremonies, there is a 50 percent probability of rain. For this reason, the use of hail fliers is planned, which should trigger the rain early by spraying silver iodide spheres.

    Around 800,000 cubic meters of Merbau wood from Indonesia were to be used to build the sports facilities . This precious wood grows almost exclusively in the rainforests of West Papua and is mostly illegally felled; China is now the world's largest buyer of illegally felled timber. The Beijing Organizing Committee banned the use of tropical timber from primary forests in the face of international protests.

    Before the start of the Games, a city-wide network of 200 bicycle rental stations with 50,000 bicycles is to be put into operation. In this way, in addition to air pollution and traffic collapse, they also want to counteract bicycle theft . A dedicated Olympic line has been set up in the Beijing subway to reduce the burden on the streets caused by three million cars. The subway network is to be expanded even further over the next few years. In addition, a daily changing driving ban was adopted for half of the cars registered in Beijing for the period of the Olympic Games.

    corruption

    On June 11, 2006, Beijing Vice Mayor Liu Zhihua , who was in charge of building the Olympic Games and realizing land, was fired for corruption . Officially, his “way of life” was cited as brothel visits for his release, but this behavior is so normal in China that the media suspect other reasons behind it. It is believed that it is about corruption in connection with the award of construction contracts, since for more than 32 billion euros a new airport terminal in the vicinity of the capital and in it new subway routes, housing developments, water, power and Sewage works arise. In addition, the sports facilities are also being built. Many residents of the capital have to give way to these projects and there were more irregularities in the compensation payments. In addition, the procedure for awarding construction contracts is not transparent and the ownership structure of the construction companies is not clear.

    Liu was sentenced to death in mid-October 2008 for corruption related to the construction work. A court in Hebei Province found the 59-year-old guilty of accepting bribes amounting to millions in connection with the construction projects for the Olympic Games. The court initially suspended the execution of the death sentence for two years. Usually such death sentences are commuted to life imprisonment in China. According to the information, the court found it proven that Liu accepted almost 7 million yuan in bribes between 1999 and 2006 as vice mayor and director of the Beijing Science Park.

    terrorism

    In March 2008 it was announced that plans to attack the Olympic Games had been uncovered. According to the state news agency Xinhua, extremists from the predominantly Muslim, autonomous region of Xinjiang had already prepared an assassination attempt in January 2008. Two terrorist suspects were killed and 15 arrested during a raid in the regional capital, Urumqi . In addition, firearms, self-made explosive devices and "extremist religious-ideological material" were confiscated. However, critics such as the controversial German publicist Udo Ulfkotte countered that the risk of terrorism was low, that Beijing was exaggerating the dangers and instrumentalizing them domestically. Politics is directed primarily against the Muslim Turkic Uyghur people who are fighting for more independence in Xinjiang.

    According to the Chinese state media, the police in Shanghai opened a terrorist cell two weeks before the start of the Games . The target of the attack is said to have been the Shanghai Stadium . Cheng Jiulong, head of the Shanghai security bureau of the state news agency Xinhua , said, "We had received information that an international terrorist group was likely to be planning an attack on the Olympic sports facility during the Games." Based on this information, the local police launched a raid. Twelve games will be played in the stadium over nine days.

    Visa

    Rumors that China had tightened visa policy and had not been issuing multiple-entry visas since the beginning of April have been denied by the Chinese side. The IOC did not comment on this decision as it was "irrelevant" to the implementation of the Games.

    Despite this, the visa was either not granted or withdrawn for some individuals. This was also the case on August 6, 2008 in the case of the 2006 Olympic champion ( Olympic Winter Games ) and Darfur activist Joey Cheek . His entry permit was revoked about a day before he left for China.

    reporting

    The rights for television broadcasting in Germany were held by ARD and ZDF . The two broadcasters also used their digital programs ( EinsFestival , EinsPlus , ZDFdokukanal and ZDFinfokanal ) for other live broadcasts that did not fit into the main program. Eurosport reported from the Olympic Games around the clock. Anixe HD showed individual sports in the evening program in HDTV . In Great Britain the BBC broadcast the Olympic Games; in the USA it was NBC , in Switzerland it was SRF 1 and SRF two . In Austria, the games were broadcast in HDTV by ORF .

    The IOC's decision to schedule some competitions to meet the programming requirements of NBC, which paid $ 3.5 billion for the broadcast rights to the 2000-2008 winter and summer games, met with criticism. NBC requested that popular competitions such as swimming, athletics, basketball, and gymnastics be broadcast live during prime time in the US to maximize advertising revenue. This required holding competitions in the morning (Beijing local time). The IOC gave in to the demand for swimming and gymnastics, and turned it down for athletics and basketball. There was a precedent for the decision: during the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul , some swimming, athletics and gymnastics decisions were made in the morning. In addition, at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, some gymnastics decisions were brought forward to the afternoon to allow for European prime time.

    Before the Games were awarded to Beijing, the Olympic Evaluation Commission was promised “that there will be no restriction on media coverage and the movement of journalists up to, during and during the Games.” China Daily even wrote: “Journalists can write whatever they want when Beijing holds the 2008 Games. ” Even then, Reporters Without Borders doubted that China’s promises to the press and the IOC would be kept.

    In fact, the Chinese government censored the press during the Summer Olympics. It banned live recordings from Tian'anmen Square , the site of the 1989 massacre . There was no unimpeded internet access for journalists. Journalists' freedom of travel was restricted. Reporting on training methods in China has been hindered. The IOC was also criticized for publishing a 48-page briefing for internal use. Among other things, this “Beijing Briefing Kit” recommended avoiding critical questions from journalists and returning to core messages that have nothing to do with the content of the question.

    Web links

    Commons : 2008 Summer Olympics  - collection of images, videos and audio files
     Wikinews: Portal: Beijing Olympic Games 2008  - in the news

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ Achim Dreis: Bad luck for Kaufmann - luck for Nowitzki - chair for Xu. In: FAZ.net . August 5, 2008, accessed December 31, 2016 .
    2. ↑ WAZ, July 13, 2001, "Exciting competition for the five rings"
    3. ↑ Resolution of the European Parliament on Beijing's candidacy for the 2008 Olympic Games, July 5, 2001.
    4. ↑ Host City Election Procedure 2008 : Report of the IOC Evaluation Commission ( Memento of March 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), 2001, p. 60 and p. 74.
    5. ↑ Li Lanqing in en.beijing2008.cn: "The winning of the 2008 Olympic bid is an example of the the international recognition of China's social stability, economic progress and the healthy life of the Chinese people." July 17, 2001.
    6. ↑ Construction site Olympia 2008 - superlative architecture projects - chinaseite.de.
    7. ^ Lindsay Beck: Beijing to evict 1.5 million for Olympics. Reuters , June 5, 2007, accessed February 7, 2020 .
    8. ↑ 法制 晚报 (Fazhi Wanbao, or evening paper of the legal system ), April 10, 2006, A05.
    9. ^ Thousands of homes destroyed to make way for Olympic tourists - The Times , May 26, 2005.
    10. ↑ New guidelines for Beijing police ahead Of 2008 games - gamesbids.com, May 11, 2007.
    11. ↑ a b c TV documentary Ultimate Olympics , Discovery Channel .
    12. ↑ Presentation of the mascots ( Memento of December 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) - website of the organizing committee.
    13. ^ Presentation of the motto - Website of the Organizing Committee, December 25, 2005.
    14. ↑ Beijing 2008: BOCOG announces Olympic Torch Relay route - International Olympic Committee, April 26, 2007.
    15. ↑ Beijing Olympic flame to be lit on March 24 ( Memento of March 14, 2008 on the Internet Archive ) - Organizing Committee website, March 11, 2008.
    16. ↑ Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay planned route and torch design unveiled ( Memento of April 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) - website of the Organizing Committee, April 26, 2007.
    17. ↑ China to build highway on Mt Everest for 2008 Olympics - The Hindu, June 20, 2007.
    18. ↑ Taiwan rejects China's torch relay plans - USA Today , April 26, 2007.
    19. ↑ Olympic flame extinguished several times: torch relay in Paris canceled due to protests. In: nzz.ch. April 7, 2008, accessed December 31, 2016 .
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    21. ^ Carrying the Olympic Torch, and Protesting It, Too - New York Times , April 11, 2008.
    22. ↑ AFP, April 18, 2008: Japanese temple refuses to host Olympic torch. ( Memento from April 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
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    24. ↑ Torch relay in Chengdu concludes ( August 12, 2008 memento in Internet Archive ) - Organizing Committee website, August 5, 2008.
    25. ^ Marshall Islands joins Olympic Family - oceaniasport.com, February 10, 2006.
    26. ↑ Two new National Olympic Committees on board! - International Olympic Committee, July 6, 2007.
    27. ↑ Korea's 'to unify Olympics teams' - bbc.co.uk, November 1, 2005.
    28. ↑ Olympic Games - Iraq excluded from the Olympics. In: sueddeutsche.de . May 17, 2010, accessed December 31, 2016 .
    29. ^ Brunei excluded from 2008 Games
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    31. ↑ de.eurosport.yahoo.com
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    33. ^ IOC: IOC Disciplinary Commission - Decision regarding Ms Fani Chalkia ( Memento of October 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). August 18, 2008.
    34. ^ IOC: IOC Executive Board - Decision regarding Jong Su Kim ( Memento August 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). August 14, 2008.
    35. ^ IOC: IOC Disciplinary Commission - Decision regarding Ms María Isabel Moreno ( Memento of August 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). August 11, 2008.
    36. ^ IOC: IOC Disciplinary Commission - Decision regarding Ms Thi Ngan Thuong Do ( Memento of August 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). August 15, 2008.
    37. ^ IOC: IOC Disciplinary Commission - Decision of provisional suspension by the chairman regarding Liudmyla Blonska ( Memento of September 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). August 21, 2008.
    38. ^ IOC: IOC Executive Board - Decision regarding Liudmyla Blonska ( Memento of August 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). August 22, 2008.
    39. ↑ Doped horse - show jumping rider Ahlmann suspended ( Memento from September 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
    40. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of September 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Article on the website of the Fédération Equestre Internationale
    41. ↑ Swiss show jumpers benefit from disqualification in the team competition: festive days in the shine of Olympic bronze. In: nzz.ch. December 22, 2008, accessed December 31, 2016 .
    42. ^ IOC: IOC takes decisions on three doping cases . December 11, 2008.
    43. ^ IOC: IOC Executive Board - Decision regarding Vadim Devyatovskiy ( Memento of May 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). December 11, 2008.
    44. ^ IOC: IOC Executive Board - Decision regarding Ivan Tsikhan ( Memento of May 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). December 11, 2008.
    45. ^ IOC: IOC Executive Board - Decision regarding Adam Seroczynski ( Memento from May 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). December 11, 2008.
    46. ↑ Jens Weinreich: Serious violations in Beijing samples. Süddeutsche.de, May 17, 2010, accessed on July 22, 2016 .
    47. ↑ dpa: Olympic champion must return gold. T online, November 18, 2009; accessed July 22, 2016 .
    48. ↑ tora./dpa: IOC suspects 31 Olympic athletes of doping. FAZ.NET, May 17, 2016, accessed on July 22, 2016 .
    49. ↑ dpa: Doping: 45 more follow-up tests from Beijing and London are positive. Süddeutsche.de, July 22, 2016, accessed on July 22, 2016 .
    50. ↑ IOC sanctions Yulia Chermoshanskaya for failing anti-doping test at Beijing 2008. In: olympic.org. November 9, 2016, accessed December 31, 2016 .
    51. ↑ Doping at the 2008 Olympics: Another 15 weightlifters tested positive. In: Spiegel Online . August 24, 2016, accessed December 31, 2016 .
    52. ^ Beijing doping tests in 2008: four athletes lose Olympic medals. In: n-tv.de. August 31, 2016, accessed December 31, 2016 .
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    54. ↑ Anna Chicherova loses Olympic bronze from 2008 , doping, on: Leichtathletik.de, October 6, 2016, accessed on October 9, 2016.
    55. ^ IOC sanctions two athletes for failing anti-doping test at Beijing 2008 . International Olympic Committee, January 25, 2017.
    56. ↑ The Olympics countdown - crackdown on activists threatens Olympics legacy ( Memento of August 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 1.5 MB), Amnesty International , April 2008.
    57. ↑ Gold for Human Rights - Amnesty International.
    58. ↑ Olympic censorship: China defends web filters for the press - IOC agrees. In: Spiegel Online . July 30, 2008, accessed December 31, 2016 .
    59. ↑ Tagesschau : China loosens internet censorship during the Olympics on July 31, 2008.
    60. ↑ Media group ends Olympic boycott ( Memento of October 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) - The Manila Times, January 26, 2007.
    61. ^ China - the world's biggest prison for journalists and cyber-dissidents ( Memento from June 1, 2002 in the Internet Archive ) - Reporters Without Borders.
    62. ↑ dw-world.de: Forced relocation in the name of the rings.
    63. ↑ Olympic boycott calls 'will fail' - bbc.co.uk, May 18, 2007.
    64. ↑ n-tv : Protest against Burma - diplomat resigns - October 9, 2007.
    65. ↑ Henrik Bork: Beijing - spoilsport unwanted. In: sueddeutsche.de . May 17, 2010, accessed December 31, 2016 .
    66. ^ Open letter of March 22, 2008.
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    68. ↑ Greece: Olympic flame lit - protesters disrupt the ceremony. In: Spiegel Online . March 24, 2008, accessed December 31, 2016 .
    69. ↑ Hilmar Schmundt: Bad Air in Beijing? Pollution Dangers Cast Shadow over 2008 Olympics. In: Spiegel Online . June 28, 2007, accessed December 31, 2016 .
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    71. ↑ Beijing to keep skies clear on Games' opening day ( Memento November 7, 2007 on the Internet Archive ) - Organizing Committee website, April 26, 2007.
    72. ^ Organizers to give Olympic clouds a silver lining - The Guardian , May 12, 2007.
    73. ↑ Save the Rainforest e. V .: China wants to use 800,000 cubic meters of tropical wood for sports facilities. ( Memento from June 14, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
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    75. ↑ bikeradar.com - 50,000 rental bikes for 2008 Beijing Olympics.
    76. ↑ Clean air for the Olympic Games - driving ban in Beijing ( Memento from January 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
    77. ↑ WAZ, June 13, 2006, “Beijing sweet and sour”.
    78. ↑ Corruption process: Beijing's ex-vice mayor sentenced to death. In: Spiegel Online . October 19, 2008, accessed December 31, 2016 .
    79. ↑ Target Olympic Games? (tagesschau.de archive) www.tagesschau.de, March 10, 2008.
    80. ↑ China exploits terror threat at Olympia ( Memento from March 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Financial Times Deutschland, March 10, 2008.
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    82. ↑ The Chinese government does not have a strict visa policy. ( Memento from July 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
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    85. ^ TV digital news, ARD digital channels show the Olympics.
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    87. ↑ 2008 Beijing Olympic swimming finals in the morning looks to be a reality - about.com, October 26, 2006.
    88. ^ Report ( Memento of March 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008, p. 73: "It was confirmed to the Commission that there will be no restrictions on media reporting and movement of journalists up to and including the Olympic Games. "
    89. ↑ China Daily : Journalists to write whatever they like if Beijing holds 2008 Game  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / olympic.gedhun.org , December 7, 2001.
    90. ↑ Reporters Without Borders : Swiss photographer deported  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Toter Link / olympic.gedhun.org   , July 9, 2001.
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    92. ↑ Heise.de No free internet access at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
    93. ^ Frankfurter Rundschau : With drugs and brute force , page S6, August 8, 2004.
    94. ↑ Beijing Briefing Kit, August 3, 2007, Volume 4 (PDF; 135 kB).
    95. ↑ Article “President of Swiss Olympic criticizes internal language regulations of the IOC for journalists” on medienhandbuch.de, accessed on August 7, 2008. ( Memento of August 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive )