Beijing 2008 Olympic & Paralympic: 2008

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Paralympic Opening Ceremony in Photographs

Amputee singer Li Chen performs 'Come on!'

Photo: Artistic performance

The Opening Ceremony of Paralympic Games

Beijing welcomed the world to the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games on September 6 with an Opening Ceremony that began at 8:00 p.m. at the Bird's Nest. Follow the live text & photo coverage of the Opening Ceremony on the Official Website.

Artists perform 'Beijing, Beijing, I Love Beijing'

Fu Niu Lele - Paralympic Mascot

The design of Fu Niu Lele derives its inspiration from the farming cultivation culture of ancient Chinese civilization, and bears the following salient features:

(1) Showing the rich concept of the Beijing Paralympic Games
Cows, symbolic of a down-to-earth, diligent, staunch and never-say-die spirit, are adopted to show the unremitting spirit of athletes with a disability in being the best they can be. It dovetails with the upbeat spirit of Paralympians and the concept of "Transcendence, Equality, Integration" of the Beijing Paralympic Games.

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Beijing Paralympics Emblem

Dubbed "Sky, Earth and Human Beings," the emblem of the Beijing Paralympics is a stylized figure of an athlete in motion, implying the tremendous efforts a disabled person has to make in sports as well as in real life. With the unity and the harmony of "sky, earth and human beings," the emblem incorporates Chinese characters, calligraphy and the Paralympic spirit. It embodies the Paralympic motto of "Spirit in Motion" and reflects the integration of heart, body and spirit in human beings -- the core of the philosophy of Chinese culture. The three colours in the emblem represent the sun (red), the sky (blue) and the earth (green).

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Sunday, August 24, 2008

United States wins Men's Basketball Olympic gold

Kobe Bryant (No.10) of the United States goes to the basket. (Photo credit:Xinhua)

The United States team huddles at center court. (Photo credit: Phil Walter/Getty Images)

BEIJING -- Deron Williams didn't waste any time.
The gold medal had been around his neck for about half a second before he lifted it gently with both hands, studied it carefully with a wide smile on his face, and raised it to his lips to kiss it. Nothing ever had tasted so sweet.
"It's a great feeling," the Jazz guard said later. "No words can really express how I feel right now, how the team feels. It's just a great feeling. It's something we're so proud of."
Redemption, at last.

Olympic record of highest number of Gold medals by a single participant - Michael Phelps

Record gold medalist Michael Phelps (Photo credit: Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)

(BEIJING, August 18) -- Michael Phelps owned the pool at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with an astonishing eight gold medal performance. As if that weren't enough, all but his 100m Butterfly victory were accompanied by a world record.

Along the way, he broke a host of other records, including surpassing Mark Spitz's Munich 1972 Olympic Games effort of seven gold medals at a single summer Olympic Games. Many had said that was impossible.

Phelps began his assault on the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with a bang, winning the Men's 400m Individual Medley on day two in a world record time of 4:03.84, slicing 1.41 seconds off the old mark. Hungary's Laszlo Cseh collected the silver medal and American Ryan Lochte won the bronze medal.

Phelps' achievements in 2008 Summer Games include:
Gold - 400m individual medley (World record: 4:03.84)
Gold - 4x100m free relay (World record: 3:08.24)
Gold - 200m freestyle
Gold - 200m butterfly (World record: 1:52.03)
Gold - 4x200m free relay (World record: 6:58.56)
Gold - 200m individual medley (World record: 1:54.23)
Gold - 100m butterfly
Gold - 4x100m medley relay (World record: 3:29.34)

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Beijing 2008 Closing Ceremonies Photos

A spectator waves the rattle-drum during the art performance ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games closing ceremony in the National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest, in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 24, 2008. The closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics will begin at 8 p.m. (GMT/UTC +8) sharp here on Sunday.