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Olympics

Special topic archive · 50 posts

These posts are from our coverage of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing China, curated by John Kennedy and sponsored by Reuters.


Latest stories about Olympics

9 September 2008

China: Free market economists urge post-Olympics social and political reforms

The huge economic strides China has taken over the past thirty years was one of the main themes in Olympics coverage; now that foreigners and their media have stopped gawking and left, Chinese economists are busy eking out the next thirty-year plan.

31 August 2008

China: gold medals=a great power in sports?

51 gold medals, a comment of "truly exceptional" from IOC, and spectacular images left to the world, China held a real party of sports in 16-day Olympics. But does this achievement necessarily mean China has been a super power in sports, and even common people could fully enjoy the glory and health brought by sports?

25 August 2008

Brazil: An Olympic balance

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For a country whose best record was its 15th place in Athens last time, Brazil's 23th medal table position in the Beijing Olympics, with only 3 gold medals was not an extraordinary defeat - however, from newspapers to blogs, the general feeling is that of disappointment. Here are some reactions from the blogosphere.

23 August 2008

China: Re-education through labor sentence for two elderly protesters

The closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics draws near, and while Chinese media are unable to report on scandals such as this that have dominated foreign media headlines, it is those foreign media reports which have given Chinese netizens plenty to chew over.

Bahrain: Eyes on Ruqaya Al Ghasra

She may have placed sixth in the qualifying heats and her dreams of becoming the first Gulf Arab woman to run in an Olympic final may be dashed, but Bahrain's Golden runner Ruqaya Al Ghasra has sure created a stir online. A rough start meant that Ghasra, who was Bahrain's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, was eliminated from the women's 200 metres race - but for tens of thousands of Arab and Muslim women - and men - out there, running her heart out fully covered has brought her more than just gold medals.

19 August 2008

North Africa: Bringing Home the Medals

In the run up to the 2008 Olympic Games, there was much speculation on how the Middle East and North Africa would fare. Although Turkey is the only Middle Eastern country to medal thus far (in athletics, weightlifting, and Greco-Roman wrestling), North Africa is enjoying great success. So far, Egypt's Hesham Mesbah and Algeria's Soraya Haddad and Amar Benikhlef have all medaled in Judo (bronze, bronze, and silver, respectively), Morocco's Hasna Benhassi took home a bronze in the women's 800m dash, and Tunisian swimmer Oussama Mellouli scored gold in the men's 1500m freestyle.

Kazakhstan: Olympic Blogwatch

The Beijing Olympics have moved political debates in the Kazakh blogosphere to the background. Alim Atenbek is upset with the uniform of the Kazakhstani team [ru]: Officials always want to...

18 August 2008

Jamaica: Woman Power!

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Jamaica has done it again! If there was any doubt after Usain Bolt's 100m Gold Medal that this Caribbean nation is a powerhouse of Track and Field, the female Jamaican sprinters made sure to underscore the point by placing first (Shelly-Ann Fraser) second (Kerron Stewart) and...second (Sherone Simpson) in the final of the Women's 100m in Beijing.

China: Liu Xiang is out and we are sad

The news that Liu Xiang has injured his foot and temporarily unable to compete shocked China over lunchtime Monday. He Caitou has reposted the fastest-rising thread at Baidu (first posted a month ago) in which someone claims they dreamt this was going to happen.

16 August 2008

AIDS 2008: Lifting the Travel Ban on HIV-Positive People

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The XVII International AIDS Conference ended in Mexico City last week, leaving participants with much to focus on until the next conference, which takes place in Vienna in 2010. One...

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