The Unofficial 2008 Beijing Olympics Blog

Olympic gold medalist, at the last edition, the American gymnast Paul Hamm, unfortunately broke a bone in his right hand Thursday during the United States gymnastics nationals. Although this may seem like a major setback in his road to the Beijing Olympics, it seems he still has big chances to compete in the national team. According to his physicians, the first American man to win the Olympic all-around, will need at least four weeks of intense recovery.

His coach, Miles Avery, remained positive. Some pain, some missed training and even a screw or two that may have to be inserted into the hand to hasten healing will not keep Hamm from competing in China, Avery said.

“Missing four weeks is not the end of the world; we can deal with that,” Avery said in a telephone interview from Houston, the site of the nationals. “I can’t say 100 percent that he will be on the Olympic team, but I feel very good that he can get back to this level.”

Hamm, the United States team’s star since making a comeback last year, has about six weeks to recover before USA Gymnastics officials name the Olympic team on July 1. Olympic competition begins Aug. 9.

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If you think you know a thing or two about the Chinese city of Beijing, then you might find it fun to take the National Geographic quiz on Beijing. The test features general questions about the city, that’s sure to both entertain and sharpen your skills. Definitely to come in handy for the summer.

After a few years of extreme hard work and a lot of money invested, the now world’s largest airport in the world is now ready for The Olympics and the influx of millions of visitors. The airport is shapes like a dragon and the whole investment cost reached something like 3.5 billion dollars. It’s 501-square-mile in surface and is capable of servicing 50 million passengers per year. For photos of this majestic feat of engineering please visit Gizmodo.

I just stumbled across something pretty disturbing. It seems the Olympic organizers have set up a guide for volunteers on how to address handicapped people, especially athletes. The guide contains language that is patronizing and shows how out of touch China is with dealing with disabled people. Here’s an excerpt from it:

“Physically disabled people are often mentally healthy,” adds a copy of the guide, obtained by AAP.

“They show no differences in sensation, reaction, memorisation and thinking mechanism from other people, but they might have unusual personalities because of disfigurement and disability.

“For example, some physically disabled are isolated, unsocial, and introspective; they usually do not volunteer to contact people.

“They can be stubborn and controlling; they may be sensitive and struggle with trust issues.

“Sometimes they are overly protective of themselves, especially when they are called crippled or paralysed.”

Volunteers are instructed never to “stare at their disfigurement”.

“A patronising or condescending attitude will be easily sensed by them, even for a brain damaged patient (though he cannot control his limbs, he is able to see and understand like other people).

“Like most, he can read your body language,” says the 2008 volunteer guide.

“Show respect when you talk with them.

“Do not use cripple or lame, even if you are just joking.

“Though life has handed many difficulties to them, disabled people are often independent and self-reliant.

“Volunteers should offer assistance on a basis of equality and mutual respect…

“Disabled people can be defensive and have a strong sense of inferiority.”

Eight special “Olympic Pandas” have been chosen, out of a field of possible sixteen, made their way in the Chinese metropolis of Beijing, this Saturday afternoon. The pandas are here for a special 6 month Olympic stint and after arriving on a special “luxury” flight from Chengdu, were set up in their comfortable digs (it’s air conditioned and comes with a daily supply of 200kg of bamboo and 40kg of bamboo shoots especially shipped in from Henan). The pandas will enjoy a week of rest before being exposed to the prying eyes and cameras of visitors to Beijing Zoo.

via The Beijinger.

A while back I wrote a bit about Oscar Pistorious’s incredible athletic achievements, as he’s managed to get a chance to qualify for the regular Olympics. The odds are still against me, though, as he has to get a respectable qualifying time. If he can’t reach a suitable time, he’s still got a chance, if he gets picked up by the South African relay team. Why we’re mentioning this again is because I just came across an interesting article by A Modern Lei Feng, in which he tackles this exact matter, debating whether Pistorious deserves a shot at the Olympics or not, if the court’s ruling to let him participate in the qualifiers is correct and, in the event Pistorious fails in the qualifier, whether he’ll be worthy enough to participate in the SA relay team. Read A Modern Lei Feng!

Click for a larger view.

Yup, it takes some extreme dedication and love for the Olympics (and well a loose canon for a brain) to tattoo the event all over your face and limbs. I mean the dude’s got the Fuwa tattooed on his neck, how badass is that? His face expression doesn’t show too much enthusiasm though. Here’s a man who knows when to stop drinking now.

What went incredibly unnoticed lately, due to obvious reasons, is the fact that the Olympics have lost another top athleet this year, this time however on the tennis court, as female ATP queen and former Gold holder at the last Olympics, Justin Henin has announced her (shock) retirement. The talented French tennis player has stunned the sporting world with her decision to quit at top of her game, reigning World no 1, being the French & US Open Champion. The main reasons behind the decision, apparently, are emotional based.

Her coach (and close friend) Carlos Rodriguez explains her decision:

“She used tennis as an outlet for her emotions and finally with her life now reconciled, she no longer has the fire that drove her to success.”

It’s interesting to note the reaction of fellow world no 1 Roger Federer who clearly struggles to contemplate losing the will to win:

“I couldn’t imagine deciding out of the blue to retire, especially if I was number one.”

Double grand slam winner, the first player in 10 years to win 10 titles in a season and the first player in history to win over US$5m in a season. Justin has truly won everything that could be won, so perhaps tennis didn’t hold anymore motivation for her. She split from her husband of 4 years, and by Roland Garos (May) was reconciled with her father and siblings.

A three minute silence was observed yesterday at 2.28pm Beijing Time (6.28 GMT), one week after the terrible earthquake in Sichuan. The unanimous silence was the followed by a growling three minute long of noise by car drivers ships, trains and anything that had a horn or something.

According to the Associated Press:

China stood still and sirens wailed Monday to mourn the country’s tens of thousands of earthquake victims, as the search for survivors increasingly became a search for bodies. Construction workers, shopkeepers and bureaucrats across the bustling nation of 1.3 billion people paused for three minutes at 2:28 p.m. - exactly one week after the magnitude 7.9 quake hit central China. Air-raid sirens and the horns of cars and buses sounded in memory of the estimated 50,000 dead.

Bellow you can watch a CCTV report which includes coverage of the three minutes from across China:

China’s central television stations, CCTV1 through CCTV9, ran earthquake coverage all day. Beijing’s television stations followed suit. For the most part, programming consisted of: live updates from the relief effort in Sichuan, compassionate messages from viewers, graphic rescue montages set to music, interviews with survivors and heroes, and scenes from today’s three-minute observance.

Three Minutes to Remember (CCTV News)

An emotional Tiananmen Square (CCTV News)

In other news, the Chinese has reserved a lot of presure lately from various communities, mostly online, from within the country, to scale down the Olympics torch relay for three days. Their voice has been heard and a decision has been reached to pause the Olympic torch relay for three days. The torch is currently in Hangzhou, where it will wait until Wednesday for its next stop: Shanghai.

Great news for handicapped athletes everywhere. The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled that South Africa’s superstar doube-amputee sprinter, Oscar Pistorius, is eligible to compete for a slot on the Olympic team, after winning his appeal on Friday. And when I say able to participate in the Olympics, I don’t mean the Paralympics (where Pistorius has already established the world record for the 400-meter run for double amputees) , but the regular, genuine able-bodied Olympics.

Pistorius appealed to CAS, world sport’s highest tribunal, to overturn a Jan. 14 ruling by the IAAF that banned him from competing. The IAAF said his carbon fiber blades give him a mechanical advantage.

“I am ecstatic,” Pistorius told reporters in Milan, Italy. “When I found out, I cried. It is a battle that has been going on for far too long. It’s a great day for sport. I think this day is going to go down in history for the equality of disabled people.”

However, Oscar still has to reach qualifying times to run in the individual 400 meters at the Aug. 8-24 Beijing Games. However, he can be picked for the South African relay squad without qualifying. That relay squad has not yet qualified for the Olympics. Anyway this is truly a unique and unprecedented moment for sportsmen and fans worldwide. Watching Oscar Pistorius compete this summer, at both the Paralympics and Olympics will be magical. Let’s wish him the best of luck!