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The Beijing Olympic Games will be hosted in China from the 8th August to the 24th August 2008 Over 10,000 athletes from 201 countries will be competing against each other in 302 events. The official logo of the 2008 Beijing Olympic games is titled “Dancing Beijing” and was created by Guo Chunning. The Olympic games will be played in 37 venues 12 of which have been newly constructed for the Games.

The Torch

The Oylmpic torch was lit in Olympia, Greece on the 24th March 2008. The torch has been on historic roads, seen historic landmarks and reached new heights through getting to the top of mount Everest. It has taken 130 days and travelled 137,000 km to get from Greece to Beijing. This is the longest distance ever since the Olympic games began! The torch has been on 5 inhabited continents and passed through 21 international cities such as London and Paris. Over 20,000 touch bearers such as celebrities and athletes have made this remarkable journey happen.

The Logo

The stunning official logo of the Beijing Olympic Games was made by “Guo Chunning” it has since been nick-named “Dancing Beijing”. The logo gets its inspiration from the “fire phoenix” this is a traditional Japanese concept. “As ancient Chinese legend has it, phoenix is the king of all birds, and symbolizes good fortune, eternity, nobility and happiness.” The logo has 2 runners painted in black holding the Olympic torch high in the sky. The Dancing Beijing is meant to reflect the Chinese culture, through the Chinese calligraphy art form which can be seen on the logo.
The logo can be seen below:

Stadiums

In total 37 venues will be used to host the Beijing Olympic games this time. 85% of the budget for these magnificent venues (which totals to $2.1 Billion Dollars) has been funded by corporate bids. Some stadiums and venues will be owned by the government for future national sporting event, the rest will be owned privately. The main Olympic stadium which will host the opening ceremony is called the “Beijing National Stadium” but has been given the Nickname “Birds Nest” due to it looking like a birds nest. The stadium has an huge capacity of 100,000 people which makes it one of the biggest stadiums in the world. The Beijing National Stadium cost 3.5 billion yuan and used an amazing 36 km of unwrapped steel, it measures 330 meters in length and 220 meters in width. The Birds Nest will be the main venue for all the track and field events that take part in the Olympic games.

Opening Night

The opening ceremony for the Olympic games is being directed by no other than Steven Spielberg, Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee. It will play host to A list celebrities such as Celine Dion and Jay Chou, who are set to do live performances in front of over 100,000 people which is the maximum stadium capacity. The event will be hosted at the Beijing National Stadium and begins at 12:08 UTC. As well as celebrities performing for us a cast of 15,000 people are going to put on a fantastic display for us as well. Its been declared that this event will the most spectacular Olympic games opening ceremony ever.

Athletes and Events

10,000 Athletes are expected to arrive in Beijing to compete in the Olympics this year. They will be competing in 28 sports which consist of 302 events, This is 1 more event than the last Olympic games in Athens which hosted 301 events (There are 10 mixed events, 165 men’s events and 127 women’s events).
In the Beijing Olympics 9 new events are being introduced some of which include marathon swimming events for 10 kilometer’s! Also paired table tennis is being introduced which will be sure to demonstrate team-work and reactions! Whilst every event is popular some of the more popular events include the
100m, Gymnastics and Figure skating.

Closing Ceremony

The date for the closing ceremony is the 24th August it will again be hosted at the Beijing National Stadium like the Opening ceremony was.
It will cap of what should be a fantastic Olympic games.