Beijing Olympics by Tim Ballas and Emily Kanoff

Introduction
For centuries, the Olympic Games have provided billions of people with amazing sports entertainment. From Gods and mortals, Hercules and Michael Phelps, the Olympics open the world to more super-human strength, agility and pure talent than they have ever seen. Every stroke in the water, stride on the track, and score of the goal helps to unite the world in a moment of pure joy and excitement. Every four years countries from around the globe send their best athletes to compete in games that they will remember for the rest of their lives. Records are broken, proud countries rejoice, dreams come true. In the summer of 2008, it happened in Beijing.
This case study examines the most recent Olympic Games in Beijing and the controversies that went along with them. Along with providing background and history of the Ancient and Modern versions of the games, the study reveals how and why Beijing was chosen as host city and the years of preparation that it took to hold such an event. During the games, Beijing became the latest casualty in the long list of host cities that have encountered scandals. These scandals will be examined along with comparisons to previous games in which boycotts, protests, and terrorism threatened to overshadow the good intentions of the world event. Finally, the study observes how China responded to the criticism and how the world has reacted since many controversies have been uncovered.












History of Olympics Games
The Olympic Games are an international sport event that celebrates the talent and dedication of thousands of participants while bringing the world together for a common event every two years for both Summer and Winter games. The games date back to Ancient Greece where Olympians were honored with statues and poems, and despite a several century break, they continue to be the world’s most exciting event. The games can be broken down into two sections: The Ancient Olympic Games and the Modern Olympic Movement.
The Ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece. No one knows for sure, but according to popular legend, the god Zeus held sporting events in honor of his succession to the throne of heaven. One of his sons, Hercules, defeated his brothers in a running race and was crowned with a wreath of wild olive branches. Hercules is also given credit for naming the winner of each event an ‘Olympian’ as well as deciding to hold the games every four years. From then on, the Olympic Games became a part of the Greece’s culture and held extreme importance both socially and religiously, with its popularity climaxing in the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. Olympians were treated as celebrities and heroes with statues and figures created in their honor. Over time, Roman power in Greece overshadowed the popularity of the Games. In 393 AD Emperor Theodosius I proclaimed Christianity the religion of the Empire and due to the games pagan roots, the Olympic Games were banned.
Nearly 1500 years later, the Olympic Games were brought back to the modern world. Although similar games were held before on a smaller and more local scale, it was Baron Pierre de Coubertin who started the preparation for a multi-national Olympic Event. While researching the reasons for the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, he theorized that the French soldiers were not given proper physical education. In order to bring attention to the need for physical activity, he proposed to bring back the Games that were so important centuries before.
The first Games of the Modern Olympic Movement were held in 1896, in Athens, Greece. The International Olympic Committee, or IOC, was responsible for putting together the massive event. This Olympic governing body still continues to organize that event today. The Games were held from April 6 to April 15, 1896 and hosted nearly 250 athletes who participated in nine different sports. These included athletics, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, tennis, weightlifting, and wrestling. The Games were considered a huge success with an outpouring of support from fans who overcrowded the Panathinaiko Stadium day after day to become that largest crowd to ever watch a sporting event at the time.
With each new Olympic Games, more sports were added and new countries participated. It was for this reason that in 1921 the IOC decided to split winter and summer sports into two completely separate entities. Although they would be held the same year, the Summer and Winter Games created equality between the sports and helped spectators focus on one aspect of the Games at a time. The first Winter Olympics were held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. It was in 1994 that the IOC mandated that the Winter and Summer Olympics be played every four years on alternating cycles.
Over the last century the Olympic Games have continued to draw unrivaled interest and dedication from fans and athletes all over the world. The 2008 Summer Games in Beijing drew the largest television ratings in United States history and with 302 events in 28 sports, The Olympic Games only continue to grow.
Previous Olympic Scandals
The world is not a perfect place, and the Olympic Games are no stranger to boycotts, protests and scandals. The 1956 Melbourne Olympics were the first Olympics to be boycotted. Countries including The Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland refused to participate because of the cruelty of the Hungarian Uprising by the Soviet Union. Additionally, because of the Suez Crisis, Cambodia, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon boycotted the games. In the heat of the Cold War, opposing countries boycotted each other’s games. Because of Soviet presence in Afghanistan, The Moscow Olympics in 1980 saw 65 nations pull out of its games. In 1984, the Soviet Union and 14 of its communist supporters boycotted the Los Angeles games, citing safety concerns for its athletes.
The 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin were used by the German Nazi Party to promote their political policies and demonstrate their anti-Semitism and racism. The country allowed only Aryan athletes to participate in the games, which is just a taste of what the world would encounter in the years following. In a case similar to the Beijing games, the city of Berlin attempted to fool the rest of the world by removing anti-Jew signs from stores in an attempt to mask their prejudice and “clean up” the city.
A political incident on a smaller scale but with resounding influence occurred at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Tommie Smith and John Carlos, both black athletes from the United States, were the first and third place finishers in the 200-metter track and field race. During the National Anthem, both men performed the Black Power salute on the victory stand. Peter Norman, the second place finisher from Australia, famously supported his opponents by wearing an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge on the stand. In response, the United States Olympic Committee was forced to send its two athletes home by the IOC committee.
Sadly the Olympic Games are not immune to Terrorism. The 1972 Summer Games in Munich is the site of the worst tragedy in Olympic history. Eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the terrorist group Black September in what is now known as the Munich massacre. Nine of the deaths were a result of a liberation attempt by police. The five terrorists were also killed, along with a German police officer. Terrorism was also seen at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. A bomb was detonated at the Centennial Olympic Park, which killed two and injured 111 others. The bomb was set by Eric Robert Rudolph, an American domestic terrorist.
Process of hosting Olympics
ABC News article - http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=80796&page=1
Hosting the Olympics is a huge honor, one that takes years to secure. A new two-phase host city election procedure was adopted in December 1999 by the 110th IOC session for the selection of the 2008 host city. The initial selection phase was based on technical requirements and was completed by a team of experts. The cities in the running after the first phase for the 2008 games were: Bangkok, Beijing, Cairo, Havana, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Osaka, Paris, Seville, and Toronto. Once approved by the Executive Board of the IOC, the cities became official Candidate Cities and were authorized to go forward into the full bid process. On August 28, 2000, the IOC Executive Board announced the five Candidate Cities for 2008: Osaka, Paris, Toronto, Beijing, and Istanbul. After being announced, each of the five cities were visited by the IOC Evaluation Commission. The Evaluation Commission inspected the sites of the games and submitted their reports two months before the host city was announced.
Beijing Planning Process
http://www.china.org.cn/english/2004/Jul/102281.htm
Beijing was elected as the host city for the XXIX Olympic Games on July 13, 2001. They defeated four other cities in the final round of competition including Toronto, Paris, Osaka and Istanbul. With hosting duties came seven years of preparation, including a huge amount of renovations that needed to take place in the city. Partnerships and sponsorships were secured early on to help with the planning and execution of the Games. By 2004 the Olympic Committee in Beijing had secured partnerships with seven five-star hotels to provide accommodations during the games, signed the Bank of China as the official banking partner of the games, and created the Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Co. to ensure successful broadcasting of the games to fans around the world. Volkswagen Group signed on as the official automobile partner, GE and Autos Origin became Worldwide Official Partners, and numerous sponsorships were secured with companies around the world.
To market the games, the city introduced the world to the 2008 Summer Olympics emblem, known as Dancing Beijing. The emblem combines a traditional Chinese red seal and a representation of the calligraphic character Jing with athletic features. The slogan was "One World, One Dream" and the mascots were the five Fuwa, each representing both a color of the Olympic rings and a symbol of Chinese culture.
Dozens of arenas were erected and the transportation systems were completely revamped. Thirty-one Olympic structures were built in all, including the Beijing National Stadium, Beijing National Indoor Stadium, Beijing National Aquatics Center, Olympic Green Convention Center, Olympic Green, and Beijing Wukesong Culture & Sports Center. The Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed The Birds nest, is perhaps the most famous structure of all, having been the site of the opening and closing ceremonies.
In preparing for the massive amounts of people who would be attending the Games, the city of Beijing added the new Terminal 3 to its airport which helped it become the world’s largest. The Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Rail was built to shuttle people back and forth between cities on the world’s fastest scheduled train service. Inside the city, Beijing doubled its subway system in capacity and size by adding seven more lines and 80 additional stations. Thousands of buses, minibuses and official cars were brought in to transport people between venues. Overall, the Beijing Olympics Games became the most expensive in history, with the city spending over 42 billion dollars.
2008 Beijing Olympics
Security
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/rosemary_righter/article4460645.ece
For the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, security was going to be a main issue with all of the issues surrounding the country. As a result, there was a big security increase for the Olympics, as each personnel were trained to counter multiple scenarios of terror attacks. To provide the top of the line security for the games, Anti-aircraft missiles were installed in all Olympic stations in Beijing as well as having 110,000 mobile police, 1.4 million security volunteers, and 300,000 surveillance volunteers. Of course, security does not come cheap, either. The security bill for Beijing was an estimated three billion dollars. For cities outside of Beijing that were hosting Olympic events, there was an estimated 34,000 troops, 74 military aircraft, 48 helicopters, and 33 naval vessels that were all placed on high alert.
Tourism
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/aug2008/gb20080819_224722.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_global+business
Prior to the Olympics, officials anticipated over two million tourists, with one third of them being from overseas. However, due to the Tibetan unrest, the torch relay protests, and an earthquake, the actual volume of visitors fell 9.2 percent than expected.
Many hotel owners invested in a big way for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Many anticipated their hotels to be sold out with room prices jumping through the roof. However, due to an increase in security for visa rules and requirements, it was hard for people to visit Beijing.
According to the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, the 6.8 million tickets to the Games were sold out. However, if you watched the Olympics on TV, there were many empty seats available for many of the events. Because of this, many journalists took shots at the committee about the suspicious claims that all tickets were sold out. It eventually came out to the public that most of the tickets were corporate sponsors that refused to make it to the games due to scheduling difficulties, conflict of interest, and many other reasons. On top of that, besides the 2.7 million tickets that were given to the corporate sponsors, many people didn’t realize that there was no re-entry policy for the events. If you left to go back to your hotel or get something to eat, you would not be allowed to get back into the respected stadium or arena you were in. Another thing that angered many athletes of different countries was that the majority of the tickets that were sold were given to the Chinese, which caused a ton of controversy to those who wanted more representatives of their respected country.
Even though all of the tickets were allegedly sold out, more than six million dollars in tickets were sold by a fake online ticket broker.
Mass displacement
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article526586.ece
Due to the construction of the venues for the 2008 Olympics, over 300,000 Beijing residence were displaced and evicted in preparation for the games and whoever decided to protest the forced evictions would arrested. However, China’s Foreign Ministry and the Beijing Olympic organizing committee said that only 15,000 residents from 6,037 households were displaced. In the end, it left thousands and thousands of people homeless due to get ready for the Olympic Games. The most peculiar thing about this is the fact that they evicted the poor class of Beijing residents and nobody else. Many people believe that China did this to make them look good for the Olympic Games and not look horrible as a city for housing so many slums.
Correct English and etiquette
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6052800.stm
http://www.nbcolympics.com/wgal/news/newsid=154888.html
For the Olympics, The Beijing government issued new requirements for its police officers by demanding them to act more professionally for the Olympics. They told the officers to stay clear from using profanity, being arrogant, and hanging up on people who call to report crimes.
Also, the government issued a drive to improve the English translations on advertisements in China. Due to the poor translation for those who speak English, China wanted to be more welcoming to its incoming tourists by improving the translations of their signs in the city.
Boycotts
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7242016.stm
Boycotting has been a popular issue for many countries over the years of the Olympics. This year was no exception. Those who decided to boycott the games include many prominent people outside of the athletes. Steven Spielberg, who was the artistic advisor for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, stepped down from his role because he protested the Chinese and their refusal to pressure Sudan to stop the criminal activity in Darfur. He went on by saying that there is human suffering in the region and that China needs to stop these crimes against humanity. Due to the activity in Darfur as well as the forced relocation of 300,000 Chinese people to make room for the games, 106 lawmakers in the United States started a letter calling for the United States to boycott the Olympic Games.
Other popular political figures across the world boycotted the Games as well. The Japanese government announced that its royal family would not be there because of the violence in Tibet. France President Nicolas Sarkozy was also in favor of boycotting as well.
Terrorist incident
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7340181.stm
On April 10, 2008, China announced that it foiled a plot against the Olympic Games. According to the Chinese security ministry, separatists planned suicide bomb attacks on Chinese cities to disrupt the Olympics. On April 25, Interpol released a warning saying that there was a real possibility that the Beijing Olympics would be targeted by terrorists.
When the Olympic Torch is being carried around the world getting ready for the Olympics, security always has to deal with protesters attempting to stop the relay or taking the torch. It has been a problem for many Olympics and is one that requires a ton of security, for the Olympic Torch symbolizes what the Olympic Games is all about. For the Beijing Olympics, protestors from Tibet tried to take the Olympic Torch towards the end of the relay before it reached Beijing.
"Racist" advertisement in Spain
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26173075/
Prior to the start of the Games, the Spain Men's and Women's Basketball teams were featured in ads that appeared in the Spanish newspapers. The team was getting a group picture taken on a basketball court when the entire team decided to use their hands and pull back the skin on their eyes, making them look like they are Chinese. Many Chinese papers as well as others across the world and even the IOC called it completely racist and inappropriate. However, the players on the team said that it was by no means trying to come off as racist.
Environmental and health issues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqZqBvtZpP0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxqQBIoyjr4
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/12/world/fg-olyair12
http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_299.pdf
Environmental and health issues have been a plaguing issue concerning Beijing and China itself. The haze and smog that has surrounded the city has polluted the air of China. During its bid for the Olympic Games, China wanted to clean up its air to give the athletes clean air for their participation. Included are more issues involving the environment that affected the Olympic Games in Beijing.
The United States Olympic Committee, due to their concern with the safety of food products that are produced in China, brought their own food to the Olympic Games through imports. The athletes were concerned that the meat that was raised in China could contain steroids to cause the athletes to test positive for their drug tests. The leader of the food services for the Beijing Olympics was very disappointed with the action of the Americans.
Like mentioned before, the quality of the air in Beijing and other areas of China was a chief concern for the athletes. Even though Beijing committed to lowering their air pollution, the pollution drifted over to neighboring provinces, causing the toxic air to flow into neighboring areas and affecting many millions of people. In order to get rid of the pollution in Beijing, they removed over 60,000 taxis and buses from the roads by the end of 2007 and relocated 200 local factories before the Olympics started. This caused many Beijing residents to relocate to different areas to live with no jobs due to the relocation. In order to be safe with the air pollution in Beijing, many countries and their athletes would arrive at the games as late as possible to limit them from the exposure of the polluted air in the area. They would also set up offshore training camps in Japan and South Korea to avoid the pollution. Also, other athletes, including major ones from different countries, decided not to compete in the games due to the pollution.
In July of 2008, Beijing officials introduced stricter pollution controls, including the suspension of more factories and power plants, lowering the number of cars, and intensifying driving restrictions, which included only driving on alternate days, and depending on whether the last number on their license plate was odd or even. As a result of these restrictions, traffic was reduced by two million vehicles.
Opening ceremony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4TMpZCKxXE
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/08/12/fake.fireworks.ap/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2545387/Beijing-Olympics-Faking-scandal-over-girl-who-sang-in-opening-ceremony.html
It also turned out that there was a major controversy during the Opening ceremony. China faked part of the ceremony when nine-year-old Lin Miaoke was singing “Ode to the Motherland”. However, it turns out that she was just a visual effect, as the real person behind the singing, Yang Peiyi was originally supposed to sing the song live. However, according to the ceremony’s chief musical director Chen Qigang, the more photogenic Lin took her place on stage because a senior Politburo member objected to Yang’s crooked teeth. He then went on by saying that Peyi is a magnificent singer who doesn’t deserve to be hidden.
Also during the opening ceremony, one segment of the fireworks show displayed fake fireworks. During the one part when 29 footprints wandered into the Bird’s Nest (China’s Olympic Stadium), it turned out that they were simulated by computer animation due to the hazy conditions in Beijing. The reaction from the media was extremely negative.
Participants' issues
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/sports/olympics/24kick.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
A number of sportsmen were criticized for their behavior at the games:
• The Chinese Men's Soccer team was severely criticized by the media for poor sportsmanship
• Iranian Swimmer Mohammad Alirezaei pulled out of a swimming meet during the Olympics under the orders from officials of the Iranian delegation for political reasons.
• A Swedish wrestler rejected his bronze medal in 84kg Greco-Roman wrestling in protest over the judging of a semifinal match.
• Cuban taekwondo athlete Angel Valodia Matos kicked a referee in the face after being disqualified. His coach further accused the referee of taking bribes from Kazakhstan. Matos' records at the Beijing Games were erased, and he and his coach were banned from all future taekwondo events.
• Chinese taekwondo judges were accused of throwing games to benefit the Chinese taekwondo team.
State training and expectations of Chinese athletes
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/05/sports/gymnast.php
http://www.sportingo.com/olympic-games/a10002_did-weight-chinese-expectation-prove-too-much-liu-xiang
http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_10136505?nclick_check=1
Since China was the host country, it put a ton of pressure on the Chinese athletes competing in the games. For example, Liu Xiang, the defending Olympic champion in the 110 meter hurdles, pulled out of competition in the 2008 Olympics. After winning China’s first gold medal in track and field, he is considered one of the biggest athletes in China. After bowing out of the games, he disappointed his millions of fans and faced harsh criticism for just quitting. It is possible that due to the immense pressure, he was afraid to lose, and that the pressure just worn him out. In his mind, his fans expected him to win the gold medal and nothing less. As a result, he might have felt afraid that if he received anything less than a gold medal, he will be remembered as a failure.
Also, there has been much criticism for the training regime of the Chinese. Considered to be just as harsh as the former Soviet Union, the Chinese government received tremendous amounts of negative attention throughout the world for their training style. If you were Chinese and wanted to be in the Olympics, these young athletes have to sacrifice living with their families at such a young age in order to endure and sustain the tough training that the Chinese instill in these kids. These kids train in certain “sports schools” or what they like to call state academies, where thousands of children give up getting an education to just focus on the sport of their skill. In the end, if a career in sports doesn’t turn out for these kids, they are now forced out into the real world with no education and the fact that they haven’t seen their actual family in many years. However, if a career turns out to be very successful, the Chinese will pay them performance bonuses that equal to ten times more money that a normal family makes per year.
Doping
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7516484.stm
“Zero Tolerance for Doping” was the official slogan for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Out of the 4,500 athletes at the games, six of them were caught with doping. Although it was a significant decrease since the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, doping experts express concern however due to the advanced technology to stop doping in today’s society of sports.
Human rights
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7567703.stm
On July 23, It was announced that the Public Security Bureau would issue permits for protesting in protest zones during the Olympics. The three designated locations were Purple Bamboo Park, Temple Of The Sun, and World Park. However, people who requested a permit for protest did not get them for many different reasons, including disturbing the social order of Beijing. 77 people applied to get a permit. Out of those 77, 74 were withdrawn, two suspended and one vetoed. The protesters were eventually wrongfully discouraged to apply for the Chinese government wouldn’t even allow you to do so.
Web and media censorship
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/548f4410-5e3a-11dd-b354-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
China promised in its Olympic bid that it would allow open media access during the games, but it didn’t turn out that way. 20,000 journalists were given sub-par internet access to do their work. On top of that, many reporting sites were blocked from their access because China didn’t want anything controversial being said or reported in which it would give China a bad name. In late July, the Beijing Organizing Committee announced that they would allow only “convenient” access, which still blocked sites that included controversial content about the Olympic Games in Beijing. Beijing authorities also didn’t want live broadcasts of locations such as Tiananmen Square because they didn’t want to show all the protests going on in China.
Arrests
According to Business Week, at least 50 Beijing human-rights activists were either arrested, put under house arrest, or banished from the city during the Olympics. Reasons why these activists were arrested include criticizing China’s hosting of the Olympics by comparing it to Nazi Germany.
Reaction/Evaluation
The reaction from the IOC and international media outlets has been positive. Even through all the controversy, the IOC did a great job covering it up with riveting stories such as Michael Phelps’s quest for 8 gold medals. On a public relations standpoint, they always seemed to put a positive spin on what was going on during the Olympics and making sure that nothing controversial will get in the way of the Olympic Games.
On a short-term basis, you can say that the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing have been a success. There were no protests on a medal podium, no terrorist attacks, and the best weather and air quality in over ten years. With recent tragic activity in previous Olympic Games such as the bombing at Atlanta during the 1996 games, this is considered to be a huge victory for the IOC and the City of Beijing. Even with all of the tension going on with Tibet, the altercations during the Olympic Torch relay, and allegations of boycotting the games, China came away as big winners with this years Olympics.
However, many people who live in China have been affected negatively during the Games. Thousands of people are now homeless. Thousands of people now are unemployed. As a result, millions of people now have a skewed view of what China is really like. Elyse Adams, a senior at Penn State, traveled to China this past summer to do research and service work with a professor. She traveled to Beijing, Shanghai, and many other areas of China and came back shocked with how many people’s lives have changed for the worse because of the Olympics. According to Adams, “You have people whose homes are being burned down just for a spectacle for two weeks. It’s unreal how China cares more about what their reputation is going to be like from an international standpoint that they would do anything to make them look good and cover up anything that makes them look worse. It is unfair to the poor families in Beijing who now have to find a new job and a new home.”
It is unclear what the reaction is going to be like in the long-run, but so far it looks good for the city of Beijing. Many people within the country garnered a good amount of national pride as the lasting effect of the Olympic Games will view Beijing as a city on the rise.
Conclusion
While the country of China and the city of Beijing found international respect this year by hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics, they also lost a good amount of integrity with the people of their nation. While the country was too busy trying to present a good image for the rest of the world, their own citizens were struggling, and the Chinese didn’t help matters. Instead, they covered up run down buildings, burned the slums in the outskirts of the city, and reduced the air pollution and population by getting rid of factories and enforcing stricter driving laws during the Olympics. While the world was watching Michael Phelps becoming the new Olympic hero, more than 300,000 people had to change their lives by finding a place to live and getting a new job.
In the end, there have been much worse scandals and controversies in past Olympic Games that have been far worse than anything that has happened in this year’s games, but in conclusion, there will always be controversy surrounding the Olympics. Whether it’s political issues, racism, the environment, human rights, or other issues, something will cause a stir before each Olympic Games. Overall, while China had their share of problems before, during, and after the Olympics, in our opinion they did a decent job covering up the problems China was facing and gave society something to cheer about for two weeks that only comes around every four years.