Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin in her pink croc sandals (Image via Xinhuanet)

Roselyne made a promise that she would wear the shoes if the French Olympic squad could bring home 40 medals from the Beijing Olympic Games as a way to boost their morale… and the French athletes did just enough (7G,16S,17B) to claim the wager.

French Sports Minister wore pink Crocs to work from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The closing ceremony was ok for me; nothing much different than the opening… visually pleasing but not heart warming. I am a bit worried for London though; their short appearance last night was quite bland.

Beijing Olympics will be remembered as the Olympic with greatness. Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt obviously stole the spotlight… a few other personal favourite winners include Yelena Isinbayeva, Guo Jingjing, Zhang Ning, Roger Federer, Matthias Steiner, Japanese softball team and Argentine men soccer team etc.

It has been a wonderful event, but I am glad it has finally ended. The Olympics had taken away too much of my working (and sleeping) hours for the past two weeks… plenty of catchup needed now.

It’s goodbye to Beijing, and hello to London in 2012.

Good bye Beijing, hello London from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The power of love

Matthias Steiner of Germany was the men’s +105kg weightlifting champion on Tuesday. When I first saw the picture, I thought of how romantic this guy was… I only knew a day later that the woman in the picture was his wife Susann, who died in a car accident last year, and it sparked plenty of emotions…

Matthias with his gold medal and a photo of his late wife (Image via Beijing2008)

This will probably be the most memorable Beijing Olympics’ photo for me… it draws love, sadness, romance, pride, commitment and loyalty. If I am a woman I would probably fall in love with this guy.

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Beijing Olympics roundup (7) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Matthew and Katerina Emmons

In Athens 2004, Matthew was just a shot away from winning a gold in the three positions competition… but he shot on the wrong target, a mistake that sounds almost impossible in professional shooting. He finished eighth.

It’s not all bad for Matthew though… later that night, he went to a pub and met Czech shooter Kateřina Kůrková who offered him consolation. The couple fell in love and got married in 2007.

If the name Kateřina Emmons sounds familiar to you, that’s because she is the winner of the first gold medal in Beijing Olympics 2008.

Matthew was trying to emulate his wife’s success, and he was pretty close at the three positions competition, again needing just an average score at his final shot to secure the gold.

Somehow, it’s deja vu… he didn’t fire the wrong target this time, but pulled the trigger at a wrong timing and got a bad score. He finished fourth.

Make no mistake though, Matthew is an excellent shooter. He won a gold in Athens in other shooting event and also a silver in Beijing. It’s just the bizarreness of how he missed those two golds that is going to make him a folklore of the Games.

Matthew has already expressed his ambition for London 2012… wish him luck.

[With reference from CNN and Wiki]

The tale of Matthew Emmons from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Liu Xiang leaving the track

Liu Xiang quits

World and Olympic champion Liu Xiang has withdrew from the 110m hurdle event following a right foot injury.

Liu’s appearance was in doubt when it was reported last weekend that he was suffering from a sore Achilles tendon, but he showed up for the qualifying heat anyway.

The 90,000 crowd at the Beijing National Stadium didn’t manage to catch Liu Xiang in real action though, as he quit after a false start (by another hurdler), limping out of the race track into the tunnel. The Chinese are generally disappointed, but showing plenty of support for the iconic athlete.

Liu Xiang was China’s best (and probably the only) hope for a gold medal at the track and field event.

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Beijing Olympics roundup (6) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Sun Nan & Zhang Hui Mei – Forever Friends

“Forever Friends” (永远的朋友), composed by Italian composer Giorgio Moroder and Chinese pianist Kong Xiangdong. The English lyrics are helped by Michael Kunze, while Chinese lyrics by Huang Xiaosheng.

This is my favourite candidate for the official theme song. Moroder, having wrote the popular “Hand in Hand” (theme song for Seoul Olympics 1988), certainly understand what makes a good theme song. It might not be the nicest song among all, but I think it’s the best that fits the occasion.

Sharing here is the Chinese version sang by Chinese singer Sun Nan and Taiwanese star Zhang Hui Mei; the English version is sang by Sun Nan and Hong Kong singer Coco Lee…

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Beijing Olympics theme songs collection from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Liu Yan the injured dancer

26-year-old Liu Yan, a renowned Chinese classical dancers, was supposed to be one of the stars at the Olympics opening cerremony… but lady luck was not on her side, as she was badly injured during a rehearsal on July 27.

The opening ceremony directors visiting Liu in hospital (Image via Sina)

Liu was rushed to the hospital after falling from a three metre stage. Her spine was badly injured, and her lower body paralysed. It’s feared that she might not be able to walk again without assistance. Best wishes from us here.

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Beijing Olympics roundup (5) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

This is one of the earliest TV commercials related to the Beijing Games; started showing in late 2006 if not mistaken. Video below is the full version of the commercial…

Jackie Chan – Visa Olympics commercial from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Bush is happy

US president George W Bush visited the US women’s beach volleyball team on August 9 during their training session. It was a happy visit obviously…

Hmmmm… (Image from Chinanews)

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Beijing Olympics roundup (4) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

First gold medals

Katerina Emmons from Czech

The Chinese didn’t get the first gold medal of the 2008 Olympic Games as hoped… the honour belongs to Kateřina Emmons of Czech Republic in the women’s 10m air rifle event.

The Chinese’s disappointment didn’t stand long as weightlifter Chen Xiexia captured the first gold for the country in the women’s 48kg class weightlifting event moments later.

LEGO Sport City

An exhibition is currently running at Grand Century Place in Hong Kong with the major Beijing Olympics venues being recreated in LEGO.

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Beijing Olympics roundup (3) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The ceremony started off well. The fou (the drum like instrument) performance managed to draw the crowds’ attention, the giant footsteps’ fireworks were cool, and the countdown managed to boost the mood very well.

Then came the splendid fireworks, followed by the formalities of flag raising and national anthem singing.

The masterpiece of the show was revealed after that… the giant paper scroll, which was quite captivating at first. The initial performances still managed to keep me in front on the TV, but things started to turn boring for a few reasons…

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Beijing Olympics opening ceremony – my thoughts from YeinJee's Asian Journal

To be honest, the song is just ok. Liu Huan and Sarah Brightman did well, but the song doesn’t really appeal for me. I like the lyrics, but the music is too soft and lack the ‘wow’ factor.

Beijing Olympics official theme song – You and Me MV from YeinJee's Asian Journal

2008-08-08 8.08pm

The number ‘8′ is seen as a symbol of prosperity for Chinese. The Beijing organisers are optimising their wish for prosperity to the max obviously… by running the opening ceremony on 8.08pm, on the 8th of August, 2008.

Renowned director Zhang Yimou and choreographer Zhang Jigang are the co-directors for tonight’s show at the Beijing National Stadium.

It’s still a mystery on who will light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony. It’s heavily rumoured that gymnastic legend Li Ning will take the honour; we’ll see how true the speculations are.

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Beijing Olympics roundup (2) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The game has started

The women’s soccer tournament of the Beijing Olympics kicked off at 17:00 Beijing time on Wednesday, two days before the opening ceremony. It’s common for soccer (and some other team sports) to start the games earlier.

Women soccer game, Germany vs Brazil, ended 0-0 (Image from Xinhuanet)

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Beijing Olympics roundup (1) from YeinJee's Asian Journal

Liu Huan is an iconic singer in China; it’s not surprising that he is picked to sing the theme song. I am a bit surprised that Sarah Brightman is chosen though… as I think China have a pool of local talents that can perform quite as well.

Regardless, I like Sarah Brightman, so I’m not complaining much. This will be her second time singing the Olympics theme song; her first performance was in Barcelona 1992 with José Carreras, with Amigos Para Siempre (Friends for Life)…

The official theme song for Beijing Olympics is still a secret and will make its debut at the opening ceremony. There are a few popular non-official theme songs though, e.g. “Beijing Welcomes You” and “Beijing Olympics” etc.

Update – the official theme song revealed; check out other theme songs as well.

Liu Huan and Brightman to perform Olympics theme song from YeinJee's Asian Journal

The Beijing National Aquatics Centre at night (Image by Tzutzu)

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Beijing Olympics 2008 – the Water Cube from YeinJee's Asian Journal