Beijing 2008 Olympic Closing Ceremonies Revealed: The 2008 games produced stunning venues and awe-inspiring performances, but what image of China will the world take home?

The Beijing Olympics of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, of the Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest, of allegedly underage gymnasts and empty protest zones, of Great Walls and firewalls, ended Sunday night (early Sunday CDT) amid proclamations of a changed China and the more likely reality of an invigorated superpower newly convinced that it can put its stamp on the world while successfully resisting calls for internal reforms.

Having accomplished the delicate geopolitical task of attracting the Olympics to China, the Chinese government spent the next seven years spending billions of dollars to lay the groundwork for a 17-day festival to impress visitors, and, more importantly, impress the country’s 1.3 billion citizens of the regime’s organizational omnipotence.

In that regard, the hosts succeeded. The kaleidoscopic Water Cube, where Michael Phelps of the United States won a record eight swimming gold medals, and the concrete and steel latticework of the Bird’s Nest, where Usain Bolt of Jamaica toyed with and taunted competitors while setting world records at 100 and 200 meters, were memorable reflections of their most accomplished occupants.

Twenty-four years removed from its Olympics debut at the Los Angeles Games, China’s athletes also amazed on the field of play. The host nation led all nations with 51 gold medals, and its 100 total medals were second only to 110 for the United States.

Not only did the Chinese prevail in diving, gymnastics, weightlifting, shooting and other disciplines, the government was unscathed by pre-Olympics concessions that, in hindsight, proved to have little to no impact on its internal policies.

Protest zones were created, but they remained empty by government fiat. The Great Firewall of China, the government-installed Internet filter that stops references to the Dalai Lama and Darfur at the arrival gates of Beijing Capital International Airport, was relaxed, but only slightly.

Still, Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, insisted Sunday that China has been profoundly affected by hosting the world for the past 17 days.

“The most intangible legacy is that throughout the Games, China has been scrutinized by the world, has opened up to the world,” Rogge said. “The world has learned about China, and China has learned about the world. I believe this is something that will have positive effects in the long term.”

Olympic historian David Wallechinsky, a notable critic of the decision to stage the Games in Beijing, said the Chinese organizing committee deserves credit for efficient operations and awe-inspiring venues, accompanied by awe-inspiring price tags.

In that regard, he said, Beijing sets a notable standard for London, which in 2012 will become the first city to host the Olympics a third time.

“London will be constrained in that they will have an actual budget and can’t haul in a thousand workers from the countryside, force them to build buildings and then send them back again,” he said.

“But there will be no attempt by London to say we’re more spectacular. They can do fun. They can do humor. They can have a party for the world instead of a sober, isolated Olympic zone apart from the city, which is what we have here.”

Beijing handed over the Olympic flag to London during Sunday night’s Closing Ceremony at the Bird’s Nest, and the Brits hauled out soccer star David Beckham, who booted a ball into the crowd of volunteers, and singer Leona Lewis and guitarist Jimmy Page, who performed the Led Zeppelin gem Whole Lotta Love, to celebrate the return of the Olympics to London for a third time.

Rogge declared the Beijing Games to be “truly exceptional” in his traditional remarks at the stadium. Earlier, he praised BOCOG’s organizational mastery of the event, and he offered special praise to Phelps and Bolt, describing them as “the icons of the Games.”

He noted relatively high television audiences, which are up by 20 percent to 30 percent in some international markets and are poised to set a record for total viewership on NBC’s over-the-air and cable outlets in the United States, breaking the record of 209 million for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Rogge also noted the relatively small number of positive doping tests at the Olympics, attributing the decline to more stringent testing before athletes arrived in Beijing.

He was more restrained, however, in his description of and reaction to the assorted off-the-field brouhahas that cropped up in Beijing over the last month.

Although the Chinese, for example, eased up on their draconian Internet censorship, some sites were still blocked Sunday night, including the personal site of Woodlands diver Laura Wilknson, which includes references to her religious faith.

“We acknowledge that the situation has not been perfect, but we acknowledge that the situation was a major change in comparison to before the Games, so we believe the Games had a good influence in that,” Rogge said.

He was equally indirect when questioned about China’s continued crackdown on dissidents. Seventy-seven applications for protests were filed, and none were granted.

“We found it unusual that none of these applications have come true,” Rogge said. “We have inquired of the authorities, who said the protests and the inquiries of the citizens have been met in mutual agreement. That is my reply.”

He also punted on the case of two elderly women sentenced to re-education camps for their attempts to protest the destruction of their neighborhood.

“We discussed this with BOCOG,” Rogge said. “The reply we received from the Chinese authorities was that this was an application of Chinese law. The IOC is not a sovereign organization. We have to respect Chinese law.”

And while he said the IOC considers reports that China employed underage gymnasts on its gold medal-winning women’s team to be “a very serious issue,” he said that based on information forward by the Chinese to the International Gymnastics Federation, “at first sight it appears to be OK.”

Thank you for this balanced assessment. I’m tired of reading from journalists how great the games are because the Bird’s Nest is “neat” or Usain Bolt is really fast. The IOC claimed to have some grand design in mind by awarding the games to China, but the final analysis begs the question, “Who manipulated who?”
China got everything they want without making a single concession, and certainly no one in the IOC or the US is going to challenge them on it. All they had to do was threaten to curtail media access or cut off shipments of consumer junk to Wal-Mart and they got their way. The IOC, in its infinite wisdom, badmouths Bolt for dancing while unsuspecting peasants who were uprooted are hauled to the gulag and underage gymnasts openly flout the rules of competition. We should play the same game. I bet if Tyson Gay had his Wheaties with a sprinkling of Winstrol he could run 8 flat.
I don’t ever want to hear complaining the next time that the games are in the US. All the howling over the Atlanta games looks like a sick joke now. Over commercialized? Well, at least the Atlanta finance committee didn’t build a “re-education activities park” as one of its venues. The IOC is so far out of touch with reality they make Paris Hilton look like Andrei Sakharov.
Gee, what about the ruthless murder of an athlete’s in-laws? How about the singer who was too ugly to be ushered out in public? Or the underaged Chinese gymnasts, that refuse to come clean?
the olympics will not change china. it will just embolden them.
Celebration of Olympics Bronzes
What happened?
How can we lose gold count to China, a third world country?
Let’s have a national holiday of mourning. No one objects I bet!
Let’s have a national contest of the best excuses of winning so less gold medals.
It has to be the BEST, so it could worth a gold in this category.
What to do?
Borrow more money from China to buy foreign coaches…
No Speedo to Australia and China.
My secret weapon is to import 8 Jamaican runners. Money talks!
Bribe the judges (a little harder as everyone hates us but money talks again).
Change all the rules to our favor: 5 medals for basketball, 1 for table tennis, 0 for diving…
All tiebreakers must go our way as our sponsors own the Olympics.
We will amplify their “shortcomings” like copying our advance lip sing technique (how dare you’re), small size advantage, large size advantage, working too hard…
The Chinese must have put slippery jell on our batons and/or the gym apparatus.
Develop a dope that can take out all dope traces from our body so we take it before dope tests.
“One country, all medals” is our new Olympics slogan.
The more wishfully we think, the closer we succeed.
How to heal now, really?
Write to Dear Abby for starter.
Bronze is the same as gold if not better. If you do not believe me, ask any blind person.
It is harder to get a bronze as we have to LET two others to win.
We’ll train our athletes for the bronze from now on.
We will ask NBC to interview bronze winners only as they are the real winners.
Actually we’ll be happier to be #3 and build a better relationship with other nations. Stop laughing. It is a fact!!!
Phelps, we love you more with 8 bronze medals - it is no easy job to let 2 and ONLY 2 pass you 8 times.
If everything does not work, turn ugly.
Ask McDonald’s and KFC to give away their “food” (better than opium) to China FREE, so their next generation will be so fat that they cannot walk to the subway station.
Send soldiers to grab the medals, esp. gold. Hey, we have the best offense.
Will the world be better if we only fought for gold medals only (bronze medals in our case)?
What an Olympic spirit to celebrate the winning of the bronze!

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