My numbers aren't off for the Beijing Games (actually they were by one, missed the sailing one) the main purpose of Project 119 was to claim golds (not overall medals) to rival or overtake that of the Olympic leaders who are always a top the standings in gold medals.
Why are communist countries always big on that? Why do they have these programs setup for Olympic success?
Yeah I kinda figured later on that "medal" in your earlier post actually was meant to refer to "gold." My overall assessment of the "Project 119" was largely based on the water sports/events. I am pretty sure the hugely disappointing showing by the Chinese athletes in track and field in the Beijing Olympics will not be overlooked.
Great internal PR. I know this one for a fact as my wife was born and raised in Moscow for the first 26 years of her life. She witnessed first hand the monumental spin they got from the games during the cold war and I have heard many a story on this topic.
Nonsense. Great Britain sure isn't a commie, but more that 50% of its gold medals won in the Beijing Olympics come from these events. Considering GB only won a grand total of 1 gold as recently as in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, one could argue the Brits have been strategically targeting their golds just as the old Soviets did.
I'm not talking about specific events, I'm talking about overall medal counts and overall gold counts. If you don't think some communist countries, including China, have or have had these setup then you're only fooling yourself. Look at China's success in these Olympics compared to 84, 88, 96, and so on. Look at the former Soviet Union's medal counts. Look at East Germany's medal count when they had an Olympic team.
London has no chance to top the opening & closing ceremonies and I'm sure they realize that. But as far as the events and competitions, they will do themselves proud.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/news/story?id=3552145 BEIJING -- China on Monday deported a British woman and a German man who took part in a protest during the Olympic Games, officials said, hours after eight American activists were sent home during the closing ceremony. Mandie McKeown and Florien Norbu Gyanatshang were put on flights to Frankfurt in the morning, said officials from the British Embassy in Beijing and the Foreign Ministry in Berlin. No other details were given. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who attended Sunday's closing ceremony, had urged Chinese authorities to release the woman. McKeown, 41, and Gyanatshang, 30, were part of a group of four who last week unfurled a Tibetan flag and shouted "Free Tibet" south of the National Stadium, one of the main Olympics venues. The group, which also included Americans Jeremy Wells and John Watterberg, was taken away by security agents. Wells and Watterberg were among eight Americans who were sent home late Sunday, after the U.S. government expressed disappointment that the Olympics did not bring more "openness and tolerance" in China. The U.S. criticism came at the end of 17 days of Olympic competition that generally went smoothly for Chinese organizers nervous about security and protests. China's Foreign Ministry in a statement Monday said, "The protesters participated in 'Tibet independence' activities and that is against China's law." The statement said China hoped "the relevant countries will teach their citizens to abide and respect China's laws." No rallies were held throughout the entire Olympics in three parks designated as protest zones -- Chinese officials declined to issue permits to 77 applicants and detained some of them. A series of small illegal demonstrations -- largely staged by foreign activists -- were held near Olympic venues and at Beijing landmarks. The foreigners mostly unveiled "Free Tibet" banners before being seized by security officials, hustled into cars and taken away to be put on flights out of China. A handful of journalists trying to cover the protests were roughed up by authorities then released. There were also tensions with the media over China restricting access to the Internet. Beijing had promised the media freedom to report the games and announced the protest parks in an effort to address criticism that China should not have been awarded the games because of its human rights record and tight controls on internal dissent. In his wrap-up news conference Sunday, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the Games had helped to open up China. But Rogge also said the IOC "found it unusual" that none of the applications lodged to hold protests during the Games succeeded. He said IOC officials discussed with games organizers the case of two elderly Chinese women who were ordered to spend a year in a labor camp after applying to protest, though the women were still at home under surveillance. The IOC was told it was a matter of Chinese law. In the first week of the Games, several foreign protesters were put on flights out of the country within days of being detained. But in the final week, at least 10 foreigners were ordered detained for 10 days under rules that allow officials to hold them without charge for up to 14 days.
Agreed. You gotta realize that this really wasn't Bejing's games. This was China's games. They spent over 40 billion dollars on these games. That hasn't ever happened before and probably never will again. No city has that kinda funds to use on an Olympics. I mean take Houston's failed bid as an example of how big the differential in spending was. The total funds that were to be spent if the games were to be held in Houston were about 2 billion dollars. But as A_3PO said look for the events and competitions to be just as good or better. They always are. History has proven that.
That's all that matters to me. No offense to the Chinese or participants but I didn't even watch the opening or closing ceremonies, I watched the games and competitions. I also realize that a lot of that money went into the incredible facilities built for these games and those are stunning indeed.
Communist countries such as North Korea and Vietnam haven't had much success by any measure. Non-communist countries such as South Korea are just as obsessed with gold/overall medal counts. If one browses British media these days, one cannot but feel the maddening excitement by the Brits over their Olympics success in Beijing, as a result of "setting up" their Olympics programs a decade ago. China's progressive success in the Olympics over the years is largely a testament to the determination of Chinese to compete to their potential in sporting events, not merely a reflection on the political system. The world has moved on, since it doesn't revolve around the axis of communism-"free world" any more.
Notice I said some, basically those with the revenue and population to back up such programs. Yes, of course there are countries that want golds and more of them but they don't have the same programs setup as the countries I have mentioned. I'll give a nod to determination but I have seen and read about the system that these athletes are put through and I can say that other countries do not have similar systems.
Nothing at all, just the system that's in place. Like I said I'm not sure why some countries put so much emphasis on medals except for internal PR as mentioned above.
