These apartments in the 2008 Olympic Village will be home to the athletes competing in Games during their stay in Beijing.

Liu Rong from the construction firm, Guoao Investment and Development, says the Olympic Village is unique because of its environmentally friendly design, He said, ‘The harmony between culture, architecture and the environment has been achieved through the green residential area — the village with its world leading technology, as a showcase to the world, the distinguishing characteristic of the high level Olympic Games.’

Solar power will be used to generate at least some of the lighting and hot water production in the Olympic Village. It also says there will be a system for collecting and reusing rain water. And all toilets will be equipped with water-saving technology as soon as they have been changed to European style.

Parts of the Olympic Village are still being built. Officials promise large green spaces in the residential area, and they are counting on the design to spur similar construction projects across China.

Jeff Ruffolo, who is a senior official with the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, said, ‘People will be looking at the Olympic Village and the Olympics throughout this country as the blueprint and the model to continue on throughout the nation.’
Souce: VOA News

Gebrselassie, 34, who holds the world marathon record and two Olympic titles for the 10,000 meters, suffers from asthma.

He said, ‘The pollution in China is a threat to my health and it would be difficult for me to run 42km. But I am not pulling out of the Olympic event in Beijing altogether. I plan to participate in the 10,000-metre event.’

China has spent more than $16 billion on measures to improve air quality in Beijing with, so far, little tangible success. Factories have been closed or moved and millions of cars have been taken off the city’s notoriously congested roads in the past 12 months.

A report by the United Nations in October revealed that there still might not be enough time to clear pollutants for the Games, which begin in August.

Many athletes who suffer from asthma have won Olympic medals. The condition is no bar to sporting success.
The British marathon runner Paula Radcliffe was diagnosed with asthma at 14 and keeps the condition under control with medication. Paul Scholes, the England footballer, found out he had asthma at the age of 21. But gulping in large volumes of polluted air in Beijing will challenge even the healthiest lungs.

The International Olympic Committee is concerned at the rise in athletes claiming to be asthmatic — from 9% in the 1980s to 21% at the 2000 Olympics. It will insist the correct tests are carried out and the proper forms filled in before granting permission for athletes to use asthma drugs.
Source: Belfast Telegraph

The Chinese record still stands at 17.34m. But that was set back in the World Cup in Rome in 1981 by Zou Zhenxian. It won a silver medal. Zou Zhenxian is a little worried that a 53-year-old man still holds the Chinese record when the current world record stands at nearly a meter longer, 18.29m, set by Briton Jonathan Edwards in 1995.

Since 1997, Zou Zhenxian has organized eight tournaments to give athletes in China a chance to surpass his mark but it has not happened.

Zou Zhenxian said, ‘Now I am not feeling comfortable with my record,” Zou said. “I can’t wait to see someone beat the record this time in Guizhou and leave me with a beautiful memory.’

After several years of sub-par performances, which saw few jumpers even surpass the 17m mark, last year’s tournament in Shandong saw the closest competition yet, as 20-year-old local Zhong Weimin jumped 17.27m to win.

Unfortunately, Zhong’s form has dropped dramatically since the end of last year and he now even struggles to reach 16m.

China is allowed to send three athletes to the event as long as all of them jump more than 17.10m within two years of the Games.

So far Gu, who jumped 17.11m in 2006, and Zhong have qualified, leaving everyone else to compete for the final spot.

The picture shows China’s Huang Qiuyan sailing into the finals of the women’s triple jump in the world championships in Helsinki
Source: China Daily

Dozens of other companies have less extensive tie-ups, ranging from the ‘official wine supplier’ (Great Wall) to Guangzhou Liby Enterprise Group, which is an official provider of detergent for sheets, shorts, and other laundry.

The problem for sponsors is that plenty of other companies think the Olympics are just as attractive — and are finding unofficial ways to link their brands to the Games.

Nike has endorsement deals with Athens gold medal hurdler Liu Xiang and other Chinese athletes. Part of its campaign is in our illustration.
Sneaker-maker Li Ning (named after its founder, an Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics) runs TV spots featuring gymnasts and basketball players and is sponsoring the U.S. Olympic Ping-Pong team.
PepsiCo got 160 million online votes from mainlanders in a contest ranking mug shots sent in by fans; the winning entries will be printed on cans cheering on Team China. And Pepsi has replaced its traditional blue cans in the mainland with red ones ‘to show our respect to the year of China,’ says Harry Hui, Pepsi’s marketing chief in China.

It works.

Qantas did it to Ansett Airlines in the 2000 Olympics. Ansett died, Qantas went from strength to strength.

Most ambush marketers do what Qantas did and simply deploy images of athletes. Thousands of Chinese polled by research firm Ipsos say they believe Pepsi, Nokia, and Li Ning are linked to the games, though they aren’t. That’s important because roughly three-quarters of Chinese consumers say they would give preference to products they associate with the Olympics, Beijing consultancy R3 reports.

It doesn’t help that the Beijing organizing committee offers five levels of sponsorship, and a total of 49 companies have signed up.
Source: BusinessWeek

Baseball was played in China in 1863 when an American named Henry William Boone formed the Shanghai Baseball Club. Babe Ruth and Casey Stengel have played in China. Like other Western influences, it disappeared during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76.

Dodgers manager Joe Torre said, ‘It may be a slow process, but once it starts blossoming I think you are going to see a number of players from China making an impact. We all have to put in the time right now and be patient.’

The chances of baseball making it in China are about the same as cricket making it in the United States.

Some obstacles:

Although the game will be seen on TV in the U.S., there’s no coverage in China.
Baseball is expensive in China, and equipment is nearly impossible to find.
Ticket prices for the two exhibition games this weekend range between RMB50 and 1,280, or $7 for the cheap seats and $180 for boxes. Both games are expected to be sold out, but many fans will be foreigners living in China.

Zhang Yufeng, the captain of China’s national team, said baseball equipment in China was too expensive for most Chinese. A ball can cost $14 and a real wood bat about $140.

Zhang said, ‘Baseball is an elite sport. It requires special equipment and fields. You pay that much for a bat and you can break it so easy. And clothes and gloves are also expensive. So it’s difficult to get a team together.

‘China’s national sport is ping-pong, no doubt. All you need is a ball and a paddle.’

Now it has been dropped from the Olympics in 2012, baseball and is hoping to get back in. It could return in 2016, but only if the Europe-dominated IOC votes it back. Cricket has more chance and it has none.

Sandy Alderson of the Padres said, ‘It would be unfortunate if these facilities were not to remain because they are ideal for the further development of the game. Losing baseball in the Olympics and the funding was a real blow to baseball. Getting it going in China would help.’
Don’t hold your breath.
Source: AP

The first time China took part in the Olympics was in 1984, when it sent only 225 members to Los Angeles. And in 2000 and 2004, China sent 311 and 407 people to the Sydney and Athens Olympics respectively.

According to the Associated Press, China’s deputy sports minister seems to have little hope that the home team can even qualify for the Olympics, let alone win anything.

Cui Dalin said, ‘We’ve got to take a pretty sober, objective view toward this. Overall, we’re not a big sporting nation.’

That was in response to Jim Scherr, head of the U.S. Olympic Committee, saying, ‘We have no illusions. This will be a very difficult competition.’

In 2004, the United States led the world with 102 medals, and China finished third with 63.

The writer comes from Wales which, in the Olympics, is not counted as a country and has therefore never won a medal. Winning a plethora, an inundation, of Olympic medals does not change the world, does not bring down the price of pork. But it does raise the spirits of a nation.
Source: CCTV.Com

Beijing plans to take as many as half of its 3.3 million vehicles off the roads during the Games to help cut emissions.

Beijing vice mayor Ji Lin said, ‘Automobiles, excluding taxis, buses and emergency vehicles, are to stay off roads every other day in accordance with the even and odd numbers on the licence plates. The ban is aimed to ensure air quality during the sports events in Beijing.’

Ji Lin said there would be compensation but the exact levels were still being discussed.

Beijing, one of the most polluted cities in the world, held a four-day test of similar restrictions in August last year.

Despite huge efforts to improve the environment over the last decade, air quality remains one of the biggest problems facing organisers in the run-up to the Olympics.

Olympic chief Jacques Rogge said last year that some endurance events would have to be rescheduled if air quality could not be guaranteed.

Plans to reduce pollutants during the Olympics also involve cutting emissions at power plants and factories in Beijing and five surrounding provinces.

Full details of the contingency plans have yet to be announced, but another Beijing vice mayor, Liu Jingmin, said earlier this week that measures should not be too disruptive to the city’s economy of the lives of the people.
Source: The Guardian

Stadium Vice-manager He Zhenxing said, ‘About six restaurants and bars inside the Beijing Workers’ Stadium compound will be ordered to suspend operation for more than 20 days before and during the Olympic Games.’

He agreed the venues, popular among Beijing residents, will lose business, but the order was issued to guarantee security for the Games.

He said, ‘The stadium will not pay compensation to them, but may extend their leases or give preferential treatment after the Olympic Games.’

Managers of the businesses said they would accept the order, although they felt ‘very unhappy’ about it. Most of the venues are still open, but some are carrying out renovations.

Zhang Youjing, manager of Youjingge Restaurant said ‘More than 130 employees in my restaurant will be out of work during the suspension. If they don’t return after the Games, I will have to hire new people and start over again.’

Zhang said his 700-square-meter restaurant had hosted celebrities including David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Jacky Chan, and took RMB20 million($2.7 million) in sales in 2004 when it opened.

Zhang Youjing said, ‘I really don’t know what it will look like after the Games. I’m not a threat to the Olympic Games and I cannot resist the official order by any means. I only wish myself good luck.’

The manager of Club Mix nightclub, surnamed Guo, said he would have no choice, but to obey the order. ‘We have almost 800 customers every night. More than 200 workers will stay at home on a minimum salaries during the closure.’

Source: Shanghai Daily

China Central Television has announced it is working with the MySpace China social-networking site and online-video site Tudou.com to run an interactive Web site for the August Games.

The CCTV site will offer streaming video broadcasts of events, which will be viewable only in China. The Web site of CCTV, the monopoly national broadcaster, draws relatively little traffic.

There is a conflict of interest in all of this.

Around the world Internet users want to view the Olympics. The Web offers new opportunities for advertising revenue, but also threatens to detract from the lock on Olympic viewers long enjoyed by TV. Selling TV rights is the major source of income for the International Olympic Committee.

The IOC didn’t sell audio and video transmissions rights for Olympics competitions over the Web until 2000.

In many markets like the U.S., the IOC now generally offers the Internet and wireless-broadcast rights for the Games bundled with TV rights, but that is beginning to change. An open tender on the online rights in China last year, which was eventually won by CCTV, was among the first.

CCTV’s Olympics Web site will be a dedicated one within CCTV.com, with a video channel supported by Tudou.com, a three-year-old start-up, and a social-networking section supported by MySpace China, which was launched last April in a joint venture with News Corp., the part of the Murdoch empire which is still interested in China.

The Olympics video site — to go live August 8, the first day of the Games — will include live video, playbacks from the Games, commentary and user-generated content. Users will be able to interact with athletes and coaches using the MySpace China part of the site.

However there may be problems regarding exclusivity.

China’s Internet is home to numerous services that illegally broadcast copyrighted TV shows or movies — even whole TV channels.

Christopher Stokes, the chief executive of United Kingdom-based NetResult, which helps companies enforce sports rights, said, ‘At this stage nobody knows who is going to do the work of making sure the videos are legal.’
Source: Wall Street Journal

Jiang Xiaoyu, in the China Daily newspaper, said, ‘The construction of the venue and the background setting up for the ceremonies are going on together now, which has postponed the working progress of the Bird’s Nest. The Bird’s Nest will be the last but the best venue at the Beijing Games.’

Organizing committee spokesman Sun Weide said the main structure of the stadium was complete and only finishing touches remained.

With enormous twisted beams wound around the exterior like silver twigs in a nest, the 91,000 seat National Stadium is the centerpiece of the games, a massive prestige effort which will make the games memorable and will remain as a wonderful sympol. A legacy of the games.

Jiang Xiaoyu did not elaborate on the preparations for the opening and closing ceremonies — directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou. The details are top secret.

Speculation among ordinary Chinese abounds on the Internet, with many guessing at how the Olympic flame will be lit during the August 8 opening ceremony.
Source: AP