20080824/难以逾越：北京奥运设立新高度

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1. jackjia (Post author)2008 年 08 月 24 日 at 1:38 下午

   London takes on Olympic mantle with quirky party

   August 24, 2008

   THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

   LONDON–Pop stars, choirs, dancing policemen and a boisterous singalong to “We Are The Champions.” After the orderly precision of the Beijing Olympics, it was time on Sunday for a first look at what organizers hope will be the fun of London 2012.

   About 40,000 flag-waving people gathered in front of Buckingham Palace for a party to celebrate the handover from Beijing as the British capital got its first chance to show what it hopes will be a quirky, personal and fun approach to the Games.

   As music played from a huge stage erected next to the ornate gates of Queen Elizabeth II’s official London residence, even the police indulged in a brief embarrassed dance when invited to by the master of ceremonies – a sight difficult to imagine in China.

   Admittedly, even a flyby from the Royal Air Force’s famed Red Arrows aerial acrobatic team couldn’t make the show compete with the scale and co-ordination that wowed athletes, officials and fans alike in Beijing over the past two weeks. But in terms of conveying what London has to offer to visitors when the Olympics arrives in town, the show did its job. Even the summer weather played along in living up to its reputation, providing warm sunshine and cooling showers in equal measure.

   “Every city has had its big twist on the games, what they have that’s different to every other county,” said swim star Michael Phelps, who was at the London show. “The Olympic movement is about bringing the world together. I’m not sure what that difference will be but I’m looking forward to seeing what it is and how this city develops.”

   London organizers have long known they are unable to match Beijing in terms of scale, not least because London’s Olympic budget of nine billion pounds is less than half that of its predecessor.

   But Sunday’s show – with its occasional awkward pauses, high spirits and relentless audience participation in dance-offs, competitions and Mexican waves – suggested that London is set on providing a total contrast to what has been described as Beijing’s “no-fun games.”

   Even if that means mustering self-deprecating laughter at one’s own shortcomings.

   “We will draw on our wit, flair, imagination and ingenuity to build on what we’ve all witnessed in Beijing and deliver a fantabulous Olympics in what I consider to be not only my home, but the home of sport,” London mayor Boris Johnson said from Beijing. “Sport is coming home.”

   In a city with a long history of music hall entertainment, it was probably appropriate that the gathered masses of families, fans, teenagers and tourists were entertained by some of British television’s most popular entertainers.

   While big screens around the country showed Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and football star David Beckham live at the official ceremony in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium, less internationally recognized names such as operatic quartet Il Divo, boyband McFly and Will Young – the first winner of Britain’s Pop Idol TV show – took to the stage in central London.

   “I can’t believe they’re really here,” said 14-year-old McFly fan Lisa Evans, who said she had arrived at 7:30 a.m. to see her idols perform their two songs almost six hours later. “This is the best thing about the Olympics.”

   Many of the performers seemed equally excited by the games coming to London.

   “I’m London born and bred and I think it will do really big things for the city,” singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor said after singing James Bond theme “Nobody Does It Better” over a backdrop of images depicting Britain’s 19 gold-medal successes from Beijing.

   Organizers have promised to hold a more relaxed Olympics, which was already on display in Beijing when Johnson was unable to contain his excitement as he prepared to receive the Olympic flag from IOC president Jacques Rogge.

   After saluting the crowd as he strode out to the centre of the stadium, Johnson stood clenching and unclenching his fists in a “give it to me” gesture as he waited to grab the flag.

   The London crowd laughed appreciatively at the mayor, who is depicted in the British media as the latest in a long line of lovable bumbling figures of fun.

   “The next Summer Games return to a country which I frequently boast has either invented or codified just about every major world sport,” Johnson said.

   As a beaming Johnson waved the huge flag, 650 buildings across Britain, including local government offices, raised handover flags of their own to mark London becoming the Olympic city. Another 80 flags were raised in British sites, such as embassies, around the world.

   British cyclist Bradley Wiggins, who won two gold medals in Beijing, said the mood created by Britain finishing in a shock fourth place in the medal table had helped contribute to a party atmosphere that seemed to temporarily trump the pessimism caused by the global credit crunch.

   “When I left, it was all ‘recession, recession, recession’ and we’ve come back to a country overwhelmed by Olympic success,” Wiggins said. “There’s an overwhelming sense of people being excited by the next Olympics being in London.

   Phelps and Wiggins were cheered on stage, but some of the biggest cheers from the London crowd didn’t have anything to do with what was unfolding in their own Olympic city. They were reserved for Beckham’s appearance in Beijing.

   “The eyes of the world have been on Beijing for the last two weeks as they have staged one of the most spectacular and uplifting Olympic Games ever,” London 2012 deputy chairperson Keith Mills said. “For a short amount of time today, however, the world stopped and considered what’s coming next.”

   http://olympics.thestar.com/2008/article/484697

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2. jackjia (Post author)2008 年 08 月 24 日 at 1:36 下午

   Grand spectacle closes Summer Games

   Mixed legacy for Beijing’s Olympics

   August 24, 2008

   ASSOCIATED PRESS

   BEIJING–Beijing bid farewell to the world in colourful, carnival-like fashion at the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Games with a dazzling show mixing its rich cultural tradition with technological savvy.

   Where the opening ceremony of the Olympics was fraught with drama and tension, the mood Sunday night was jubilant.

   Athletes broke 43 world records and 132 Olympic records during the Olympics, and as they flooded the stadium their faces were brighter than the thousands of lights dotting the costumes of the 4,000 performers in the night’s events.

   The Canadians casually sauntered in wearing vivid tapestry pants and stylized Maple Leaf T-shirts but it took only a few minutes for them to seize the energy of the stadium.

   They jumped on each other’s shoulders, one so caught up in the moment it took her a few strides to realize the Canadian flag on her back was upside down.

   As it prepared to declare the Games closed, the International Olympic Committee, whose selection of Beijing as host back in 2001 was widely questioned, insisted its choice had been vindicated.

   “Tonight, we come to the end of 16 glorious days which we will cherish forever,” IOC president Jacques Rogge told the capacity crowd and a global TV audience.

   “Through these Games, the world learned more about China, and China learned more about the world.”

   “These were truly exceptional Games,” he said.

   The head of the Beijing organizing committee, Liu Qi, said the Games were “testimony to the fact that the world has rested its trust in China.” He called them “a grand celebration of sport, of peace and friendship.”

   But many have questioned whether these Games delivered on what the Chinese had promised — greater openness and engagement with the world by their citizens.

   Rogge and the IOC were criticized by human rights groups for their reluctance to publicly challenge the Chinese as various controversies arose over press freedom and detention of dissidents.

   Athletes shied away from making political statements, and “protest zones” established in Beijing went unused as the authorities refused to issue permits for them.

   It’s not what Olympic officials want the world to remember and the performance Sunday night was choreographed to celebrate and remember the best of human achievement and the coming together of the world.

   As the flame was extinguished, performers simulated a new one with their bodies, changing the scene from fireworks to sports pictograms and moving figures, a literal display of how much of themselves China has given to these Games.

   With such a tangled political web woven by these Olympics, the handover ceremony to the London 2012 committee was a snap back to a less controversial choice for host city.

   While China spent a whole lotta cash on its Games, London countered with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page jamming with singer Leona Lewis on the classic hit Whole Lotta Love.

   They performed on a red double decker bus that converted to a stage from which soccer star David Beckham, expected to kick a soccer ball into stands of fans, instead gently lobbed it into the crowds of athletes.

   Another highlight was a performance by tenor Placido Domingo and Chinese soprano Song Zuying.

   Hundreds of singers lent their voices to a set of songs about Beijing on Sunday night, with lyrics hitting one of the stated goals of these Games — that the world finally come to know and love Beijing.

   In the program guide for media, it went a little farther.

   “Tonight we are together, we drink and we’re intoxicated,” the translation read. But the message of the song resonated with all the hopes Beijing pinned on these Games.

   “One world, one dream.”

   http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/Beijing2008/2008/08/24/6557966.html

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3. jackjia (Post author)2008 年 08 月 24 日 at 1:10 下午

   Olympics opened up China, IOC chief says
   Last Updated: Sunday, August 24, 2008 | 10:34 AM ET
   CBC News

   As he lavished praise on Beijing for the way the Summer Olympics were run, the head of the International Olympic Committee said his organization cannot force change on a sovereign state.

   At a news conference Sunday marking the end of the Beijing Games, IOC President Jacques Rogge defended the decision to stage the Olympics in China, despite the criticism of the country’s human rights record.

   The Olympics, he said, brought unprecedented global scrutiny to the emerging superpower with one-fifth of the world’s population.

   “Throughout the Games, China has been scrutinized by the world, has opened up to the world. The world has learned about China and China has learned about the world. And I believe this is something that will have positive effects in the long term,” he told reporters before the closing ceremonies.

   Rogge said London would have a tough act to follow when it hosts the 2012 Olympics.

   “It is clear that China has put the bar very high,” he said. “So it’s going to be a challenge for London and all the subsequent games. I believe and my hope will be London can even put the bar higher.”

   Pressed on the issue of political demonstrations, Rogge said it was unusual that despite the presence of a number of protest parks, of the 77 applications to protest from Chinese people, none had been approved. But he added the IOC’s role is not to “solve the ills of the world.”

   “We are first and foremost an organization devoted to sport, but it is sport with a purpose,” Rogge said. “The IOC and the Olympic Games cannot force changes on sovereign nations or solve all the ills of the world. But we can, and we do, contribute to positive change through sport.”

   Giving the Summer Games to China proved to be the right thing to do and will pay benefits beyond sports, the IOC president said.

   Rogge said the Olympics are leaving China with a long-term legacy of sporting facilities, improved urban infrastructure and greater environmental awareness.

   http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/08/24/olympics-rogge.html

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