2008 Olympics Updates

Within 36 hours of the Olympic Games closing ceremony the flags in the city of Beijing were changed to Paralympic ones.

The message that I have seen in Beijing is that things happen here fast. I came here a couple of years ago when the foundations of the athletes’ village were being dug and it seemed impossible that anything would be ready.

If the rumours are true, in the last two years there have been 200 new hotels built in Beijing and in the past six months many underground stations have been made accessible for disabled people.

Since my first visit to Beijing there have been many dramatic changes, not just physical ones, but more attitudinal ones.

Last time, there was barely a dropped kerb in sight, and now there is more tactile paving than I have ever seen in my life.

I was out and about in the city a couple of days ago and ramps that weren’t there two weeks ago were appearing in shops.

What I hope is that they don’t disappear as soon as the Games leave town, and there will be a lasting legacy, but from what I have seen over here, the learning curve is steep and what they learn sticks.

There have also been considerably fewer people staring at me in the street. This time, the attention has focused on my blonde blue-eyed six-year-old daughter, who had an average of 25 people a day taking her picture.

People literally stop in the street to look at her or touch her hair, something that she was incredibly patient with, seeing as she won’t let me brush her hair before a school day!

In the last two weeks there have also been Paralympic adverts on TV, programmes showing the technicalities behind wheelchair racing and other sports, and major coverage of the Paralympic torch relay.

But still I have this inkling that the city doesn’t really know what to expect.

There appeared to be a slight lack of international support at the Olympics, so will the local supporters understand the competition and will the stadiums be full? Let us not forget that some of the sessions of the Olympics were not full.

But I do get the sense here that there will be strong encouragement for local support.

In Seoul in 1988, the local churches were brought in to “support”, having the same seats every day, but different countries’ flags appeared to be on rotation.

It didn’t feel patronising at the time, or that they were coming out to “cheer on the poor people”. It felt more like education.

I have no doubt that Saturday’s opening ceremony will be sold out (it seems impossible to get tickets) but we have just a few more days to wait to see if they can also fill the venues.

Picking a symbol for the Olympic Spirit is the easy part. Defining the concept is also straightforward, but judging its relative standing in modern society isn’t.

The symbolic emblems of the Spirit are the Olympic torch and the Olympic flame. Lit every four years in ancient Olympia in Greece, for these Beijing Games, the flame has been on an unprecedented intercontinental journey.

China’s desire is for people everywhere to feel, live and understand its slogan “One World, One Dream”. So the torch has been to places it never had before, highlighting the inclusiveness of the Olympic Games.

If you doubt that inclusiveness, consider that there are more competing teams in Beijing than there are members of the United Nations.

The international relay of the Olympic torch was certainly controversial, with vigorous – often violent – protests in some cities, most notably London and Paris.

Dr Jacques Rogge, the President of the IOC, expressed his shock at some of the levels of violence exhibited against the torch procession, but there were also plenty of expressions of support for the torch, such as in San Francisco, most often by expatriate Chinese.

What the international torch relay showed definitively, once and for all, is that sport and politics are indivisible partners. One does not exist without the other.

From Moscow to Havana, from Washington DC to Paris, sporting glory is a symbol of national success, of progress and achievement, a matter of national pride and an indication that a country truly belongs amongst the elite of world society.

For me, the essence of the Olympic Spirit is togetherness, solidarity, understanding, compassion and participation. The Games are meant to unite, and again, as I’ve said in previous blogs, they are about establishing cultural connections.

But if I’m thinking about the Games themselves, in the here and now, the three words I’d use are multi-disciplined, marketing and money.

I’m not saying every TV viewer will analyze their reactions in such a manner, but watching great sporting achievement can lift the soul. Sporting brilliance celebrates the ascent of man and can be a common denominator for all humanity.

Those moments are also mirrored at the other end of the scale, because while we can all appreciate winners, we can also empathise with the rest, be they fourth, fifth or stone cold last.

Participation is the key, to be a part of the Olympic Games and to feel the togetherness of the biggest sporting gathering on the globe.

In Beijing, there will be more than 10,000 athletes taking part in 302 different events. That means only 906 medals are available for those thousands of competitors. The majority will have arrived here fully aware they stand no chance of winning gold, silver or bronze, but they still want to be here to take part.

Two of the most symbolic and evocative moments of Atlanta 1996 came from completely opposite ends of the spectrum.

First there was the indelible image of the American Michael Johnson, his golden shoes and upright stance sprinting to a world record in the 200 metres.

Then there was the Briton Derek Redmond pulling up injured on the home straight of the 400 metres. Almost unable to walk, his father jumped over from the spectator stands to put an arm around his son and help a tearful Redmond across the finishing line.

The white heat from the flashbulbs around the stadium was just as intense for both moments, and they are both two of the best manifestations of the Olympic Spirit.

What sums up for the Olympic Spirit for you? If you want to appear live on the show, or just have an opinion to share, email us at mygames@bbc.co.uk.

There’s one slogan that I’ve now memorized (I had no choice – I’ve heard it perhaps several hundred times today): “Ao yun jia you! Zhong Guo jia you!” (translation: “Go Olympics! Go China!”)

This morning, in the city of Kashgar, teenage volunteers chanted this slogan as the torch relay got underway (occasionally adding “Go Kashgar!” or “Go Sichuan!” – the province hit by last month’s earthquake.)

Security for the torch relay here in the Xinjiang region has been tremendously strict (this region is home to 8 million Uighur people, who are Muslims. China says it faces a real terrorist threat from Uighur separatists – a claim disputed by human rights groups.)

The authorities here didn’t want reporters wandering away off on their own during the relay. So, just after dawn, we were all driven to the square outside the Idkah mosque for the start of the relay (to help identify us, local officials gave each of us two red stickers and politely told us to put one on our chests and one on our backs.)

Once the opening ceremony was over, we were driven straight to another square to get ready for the closing ceremony (as we drove we saw that most – if not all – shops and businesses were shuttered. There were no cars on the road. Local people had been told to stay indoors.)

We weren’t given the chance to watch the relay itself as it went through the streets – the torch was cheered along by carefully chosen crowds. My colleagues and I did manage to wander about 20 metres or so from the site of the closing ceremony to film some roads which were closed off – but we were quickly stopped by officials who told us that we were banned from doing this.

Just after midday, the closing ceremony came to an end, and we were allowed to walk away on our own. We passed one side street and saw a line of Uighur people who’d come out of their homes to catch sight of the relay. They were being watched by a police officer – he told us to stop filming them. So we walked on. We saw people slowly coming back onto the streets – to open up their shops. The Olympics came to their city – but not everyone got to see it.

he design of the uniforms for the Torch Relay is a vital component of the Torch Relay Image and Look.

As required by the IOC, the elements of the uniforms must include the Olympic Rings, the emblem of the Beijing Olympic Games, the logo of the Torch Relay, the core graphic and color system of th

1 Vote(s)

The design of the uniforms for the Torch Relay is a vital component of the Torch Relay Image and Look.

As required by the IOC, the elements of the uniforms must include the Olympic Rings, the emblem of the Beijing Olympic Games, the logo of the Torch Relay, the core graphic and color system of t

1 Vote(s)