Olympic Games of 2008
The 2008 Summer Olympic Games, held in Beijing from August 8 to 24, marked the first time China hosted the Olympics and the twenty-ninth edition of the Summer Olympiad. The event was notable for its grandiose opening ceremony, which cost around $300 million and was widely acclaimed as one of the best in Olympic history. Despite political controversies surrounding China’s human rights record, the games were marked by significant athletic achievements, particularly by American swimmer Michael Phelps. He captured a remarkable eight gold medals in a single Olympics, surpassing previous records and becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time.
Other standout performances included Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who set world records in the 100-meter and 200-meter races, and British swimmer Rebecca Adlington, who achieved historic wins in women's events. The gymnastics competition attracted attention due to allegations regarding the age of Chinese competitors, yet the results stood. In team sports, the U.S. women's soccer team won gold against Brazil, and the men’s basketball team reclaimed dominance by defeating Spain. Ultimately, China topped the gold medal count with 56, while the United States led in total medals with 110, reflecting a competitive and memorable Olympic experience.
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Olympic Games of 2008
The 2008 Summer Olympic Games marked the twenty-ninth installment of the Summer Olympiad and the first Olympic games ever to be hosted by China. The Chinese capital of Beijing presented the games from August 8 to 24, 2008. Though mired in political controversy, the Beijing games were successful thanks to both elaborate staging and notable athletic performances. The most outstanding athlete of the games was American swimmer Michael Phelps, who became not only the biggest winner in Beijing but also the most decorated competitor in Olympic history.
Background
When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 2008 Summer Olympics to the city of Beijing on July 13, 2001, China celebrated the achievement of a longtime goal. China's efforts to become an Olympic host city dated back to 1984. For nearly twenty years, the international community's concerns over the country's Communist politics and questionable human rights track record thwarted those efforts. While the IOC eventually deemed China a worthy Olympic host, the nation's perceived sociopolitical shortcomings were a frequent topic of discussion, and people held protests before, during, and after the games.
In hopes of making a good impression on the world stage, Chinese officials did their best to make the Beijing Olympic Games a spectacular event. They constructed an elaborate Olympic village that included numerous state-of-the-art athletic venues for the summer Olympic sports. Among these were the National Stadium, which was dubbed the Bird's Nest because of its unique architectural design, and an aquatic facility nicknamed the Water Cube. The opening ceremony, however, was the country's crowning achievement. With production costs totaling around $300 million, the extravagantly staged ceremony dazzled spectators around the world who widely praised it as the best in Olympic history.
The Games
Once the 2008 Beijing games officially opened, the world's greatest athletes took center stage and commanded the world's attention with their competitive efforts. As the games unfolded, American swimmer Michael Phelps was quick to garner much attention. Age twenty-three at the time, Phelps came into Beijing as an Olympic veteran, already having competed at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. At the Water Cube, Phelps competed in eight separate swimming events and claimed the gold in every one. In the process of putting together his impressive medal haul, Phelps broke numerous records. In addition to surpassing fellow American Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at a single Olympics, he also became the most decorated athlete in Olympic history with a total of fourteen gold medals and sixteen medals overall.
In women's swimming, Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington earned gold with a record-breaking win in the 800-meter final. During the race, Adlington broke American Janet Evans's 1989 record by two seconds. With her victory, Adlington became the first British woman to claim a gold medal since 1960. Before the games closed, she also won a second gold in the 400-meter final.
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt made headlines in the 100-meter race—his first medal round event—by finishing at a world record time of 9.69 seconds. He did this after starting his victory celebration 20 meters before he actually crossed the finish line. He made history again at the 200-meter final by beating Michael Johnson's 1996 record time of 19.30 by two-hundredths of a second. Bolt completed his Olympic triumph by leading his teammates to gold in the 4x100 meters relay.
Another sport that captured the public's attention at the Beijing Olympics was women's gymnastics. In the individual all-around competition, American Nastia Liukin, the daughter of former Soviet Olympic gymnast Valeri Liukin, won gold. Many fans also expected that Liukin would lead her fellow Americans to gold in the team competition, but the Chinese dashed these hopes in a victory marred by controversy. Critics complained that many of China's gymnasts appeared to be younger than the minimum age of sixteen and argued that their win should be invalid. Despite the outcry, the IOC stood by the decision and allowed China to keep the gold.
On the soccer field, Argentina's men's team defeated Nigeria to capture the gold. In the women's division, the United States claimed gold with a win over Brazil. Their victory partly was made possible because of star goaltender Hope Solo, who made her Olympic debut at Beijing.
American women also turned in a strong performance in the beach volleyball competition. Defending gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor returned to the Olympic spotlight by going undefeated through seven matches and fourteen sets. Thanks to their dominant play, Walsh and May-Treanor won the gold.
One of Beijing's most anticipated events was the men's basketball tournament. Heading into the games, an American squad coached by Duke University's Mike Krzyzewski and led by National Basketball Association (NBA) stars such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Dwight Howard looked to restore Team USA's former Olympic dominance. In the final game, the team defeated Spain to win gold for the first time since 2000.
When the Beijing games finally closed, the United States and China claimed the top spots in the medal count. While China registered the most gold medal wins with a total of 56, the United States won the overall race with a combined 110 medals to the host country's 100.
Bibliography
Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. "The Games Unfold." Official Report of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Vol. 2. Beijing: BOCOG Media & Communications Department, 2009. 125–71. Print.
"Beijing 2008." Olympics.org. International Olympic Committee. Web. 14 Jan. 2015. http://www.olympic.org/beijing-2008-summer-olympics
Gerstner, Joanne C. "Flashback Friday: Age Controversy Follows Chinese Gymnasts." 2012 London Olympics. New York Times. 8 Jun. 2012. Web. 14 Jan. 2015. http://london2012.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/flashback-friday-age-controversy-follows-chinese-gymnasts/?‗r=0
"Olympics, 2008 Beijing Olympic Games." Encyclopedia of Modern China. Vol. 3. Ed. David Pong. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2009. 54–57. Print.
"2008 Beijing Summer Games." Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Web. 14 Jan. 2015. http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/2008/