Stories about Olympics from 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?
Egypt: Olympics Investigation
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has ordered an enquiry into why Egypt performed poorly in the Olympics, reports Tom Gara.
China: The Cost of a Gold Medal
Zhaomu re-posted a forum article which calculated the cost of a gold medal exemplified by the Olympic shooting team. It is estimated that a gold medal costs between RMB30 – 80 millions (around US4.5 – 10 million).
China: Translating New York Times Olympic Report
Black and White Cat shows how the Xinhua has translated the New York Times Olympic Report into Chinese.
China: Olympic Medals Shape
A graphic representation of the distribution of medals shows that China has big tits. The picture was created by Form One high school boy at bbs.163.com.
Jamaica: Athletic Subversion
“Jamaica's garrison politics found its way onto the Olympics stage in two performances – once in a scintillating display of athletic grace and vigor, and once in a celebratory performance of the “gully creepa”: Abeng News Magazine explains.
China: Cop-killer online hero case goes on trial
Yang Jia's case goes to trial today, after having been postponed for the Olympics. Previously he had been harmonized after having been heroized by many online for walking into a police station in Shanghai last month and killing six cops after what was accepted was an earlier case of injustice...
China: My Peasant Dad Watches The Olympics
ESWN translated an article by Li Punman at my1510 about an older generation peasant's view on the Beijing Olympics. Nationalism is still a pervasive frame.
China: Weather Intervention
During the Olympics, the Beijing government created artificial rain to secure good weather for the opening and closing ceremonies. Lui Li said that if the government had plan to intervene the weather, it should have forecasted it to the people.
China: Olympic Regrets
Chen XueLei reflected upon his Olympic experience since 7 years ago when Beijing applied for the hosting city. Now that the Beijing Olympics has obtained great success on stage, the blogger wonders if it is really a success for the majority of Chinese people.
Saudi Arabia: Where are the women sport heroes?
Saudi girls deserve sport heroes too, says Jillian, at a post on women in the Olympics at Kabobfest. “Little girls in Saudi Arabia (which I will use as an example from now on, given that Qatar's population equals that of Boston) deserve to have strong heroes too,” she notes.
MENA: Veiled Athletes in Beijing
Despite the Saudi Arabia's decision to ban Saudi women from taking part in the Olympics this year, Blogger Dilshad D. Ali writes about the emergence of hijab (veil) at the Beijing Olympics. Blogger Jana, also lists the 12 veiled Muslim athletes who competed this year in Beijing.
Syria and the Olympics
Syria Comment discusses Syria's performance at the Summer Olympics, which just ended in Beijing, China.
Jordan: Interesting Olympics Statistics
Jordanian blog And far away shares interesting statistics on the Summer Olympics, which just ended in Beijing, China.
Brazil: An Olympic balance
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.
Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica: People Power
“The pictures of the Jamaican track teams facilities haunt me. But what they prove, perhaps is that all the high tech this, that and the other can’t take the place of the sheer power of the human spirit”: Trinidadian blogger Attillah Springer wonders “if we have what it takes to...
Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Cuba: Olympic Medals
Caribbean Beat Blog congratulates Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago on their gold and silver medals in the Men's 4 x 100 Relay, while Child of the Revolution thinks that “Fidel Castro won’t be happy” with the Cuban Olympic medal count.
Jamaica: Patwa Power
Annie Paul gives a rundown of Jamaica's outstanding Olympic achievements, making the point that “the phenomenal performance of the Jamaican athletes is also due to the cultural self-confidence they feel…this is not a confidence manufactured by the abjectly self-conscious, respectability-seeking, hymn-singing English-speaking middle classes but one bred out of the...
Cape Verde: Counting the Olympic medals for Africa
Cape Verdean blogger Jorge Tolentino [pt] details the medals that the African countries brought back home from China and highlights: “In an overall total of 40 medals for the continent, 17 were won by women.”
China: Where's the Fuwa?
Tomorrow yellow flowers from Pandemonium posted some photos of Funwa after the Olympics.
China: Olympics as a Learning Experience
Nimrod from the Fool's mountain points out that everyone should try to learn from the Beijing Olympics lesson.
