Ready to watch the 2008 Olympics? We have some suggestions on Beijing

Ready to watch the 2008 Olympics? We have some suggestions on Beijing


In five days, the largest and most inclusive sporting event of the world will begin.

More than 11,000 athletes - 596 representing the United States - will converge in Beijing at the 2008 Olympics.

These athletes will seek excellence in 28 sports. They will represent 204 countries and compete in 37 venues both inside and outside of Beijing.

Americans will compete in most of the events, including the newest: motocross, open water swimming and women's steeplechase.

Fireworks (shapes include smiley faces and a yellow dragon) will light the skies for the opening ceremony in and around China's capital city. And thousands of spectators, including President Bush and other international dignitaries, will be on hand to mark the beginning of the XXIX Olympiad.

Though no El Paso natives are competing, El Pasoans can still get into the international spirit of friendship and enjoy the performance of tremendous athletes from all over the world. And they can root for several UTEP track and field athletes.

Here's a quick overview of the Olympics, whom to watch, and where to get the most out of the 17 days of the international competition.

About the host

Geographically, China is the world's fourth-largest country, after Russia, Canada and the United States. It has a population of more than 1.3 billion people.

For leaders of the People's Republic of China, the Olympics is a chance to showcase the country's economic growth and modernization. The government
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also is interested in showing the competence of the Communist Party. At the same time, the country wants to present itself not only as a major power but also as a peace-loving country.

Despite being a superpower, it has not been included in the G8 (a summit of leaders of the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Canada, Italy and Russia), largely because of its regime and poor human-rights record. Some dignitaries may boycott the opening ceremony because of human-rights concerns.

China also is one of the world's most polluted countries. Some athletes will wear masks during the games.

By the numbers

# The games will start exactly at 8:08 p.m. Aug. 8, the eighth day of the eighth month of the year 2008. The number 8 signifies prosperity to the Chinese, and prosperity has been an official goal of the country since Deng Xiaoping became its leader in 1978.

# Officially, the program has 28 medal sports (such as swimming), with 20 associated disciplines (such as diving).

# There are 165 medal events open to men, and 127 to women. Men and women can compete against each other in three sports: badminton, equestrian and sailing (with a total 10 events).

# Nine events have been added to the program since 2004, and eight have been subtracted. New events are in swimming (men's and women's open-water), cycling (men's and women's BMX racing), fencing (women's team sabre, women's team foil), table tennis (men's and women's team competitions) and track and field (women's steeplechase).

# Two sports, softball and baseball, will be removed after this year.

# The United States has won a total of 2,197 medals - 897 gold, 693.5 silver and 606.5 bronze - according to www.nbc.olympics.com Since 1984, China has won 286 medals - 112 gold, 96 silver and 78 bronze.

# Each medal weighs about 5 ounces.

Must-see TV

NBC is the official media for the Olympics on television and on the Internet. In El Paso, the games will be on Channel 9-KTSM (cable Channel 10).

KTSM news director Kim Bridger expects a lot of viewers to tune to the station's consistent coverage of the Olympic games.

"We're very excited about our coverage. We'll be airing the Olympic games every night from 7 through 11 p.m. And we hope viewers will watch the sporting event and continue with our local news coverage, which will start at 11 p.m.," she said.

Bridger said the station will begin airing the opening ceremonies at 7 p.m. Friday.

She said she expects viewers to be get caught up in the athletes and the stories behind the athletes.

"The network does a really good job of letting us getting to know who they are," she said.

Internet surfers can also go to www.nbc.olympics for coverage of the games and information on the sports and athletes.

Internationally, www.CCTV.com (China Television Corp.) will be making history by streaming the games in real-time online, according to www.channelnewsasia.com

American stars

Swimming, basketball, beach volleyball, gymnastics, swimming, and track and field are considered the most popular sports, according to www.nbcolympics.com.

Some of the American athletes to watch:

# In swimming, Michael Phelps will take on the challenge of Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals Aug. 17. Dana Torres, 41, is one of three athletes on their fifth Olympic trip. (The others are archer Butch Johnson and cyclist George Hincapie.)

# In gymnastics, Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin hope to help the women's gymnastic team earn gold. Look for some of their events Aug. 13. Gymnast Paul Hamm pulled out last week because of a broken right hand.

El Paso connection

Straight from the University of Texas at El Paso field, Blessing Okagbare will represent Nigeria in the women's long jump. Supporters hope she can go 7 meters.

UTEP student Halimat Ismalia and former Miner Oludamola Osayomi also will represent Nigeria in track and field. Ismaila and Osayomi qualified for the women's 400-meter relay, and Osayomi also was a triple qualifier in women's 100-meter and 200-meter events.

Mickael Hanany, also a UTEP student, will represent France in track and field.

María Cortés González may be reached at mcortes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6150.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Where to watch

# Opening ceremonies will be aired at 7 p.m. Friday on Channel 9-KTSM (cable Channel 10).

# Coverage on KTSM will be from 7 to 11 nightly, plus 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. most days and all day on weekends.

# NBC also will provide online coverage at www.nbc.

olympics.

# The games will be streamed online in real time by the China Television Corp., www.CCTV.com.

Olympic tidbits

# The five rings of the Olympics logo represent five continents. The Olympics motto "citius, altius, fortius," means "swifter, higher, stronger." The most important thing in the Olympic games is not to win but to take part.

# The official mascots of the Beijing games draw their color and inspiration from the rings. The mascots embody China's most popular animals - fish, panda, Tibetan antelope, swallow - and the Olympic flame.

# Each of the mascots has a repetitive two-syllable name, similar to affectionate nicknames for children in China. The fish is Beibei, the panda is Jingjing, the flame is Huanhuan, the antelope is Yingying and the swallow is Nini. Put their names together - Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni - and they say "Welcome to Beijing."

# The athletes' dining hall in the Olympic Village will serve food for 9,000 athletes daily. The staff dining hall will provide food for 3,000 people daily. Athletes can choose from three menus: Asian, Mediterranean and international (which includes pizza). Olympics sponsor Coca-Cola will provide many of the drinks, and hot tea and coffee also will be available.