The Beijing Paralympic Games has started and ended rather quietly compared to the Beijing Olympic Games. Didn’t manage to catch anything live… as said earlier, the media coverage was really poor for this event, which was a pity because I am sure there were lots of wonderful moments throughout the Paralympics…
A referee helping a soccer player with his shoestrings (Image from Xinhuanet)
I have been following the Chinese news on the event, and it seems like the Paralympic Games have been very well ran as well… kudos to the Chinese organisers for that. Hope that it will be another great event in London 2012, and hope that the international media will give more attention next time.
The Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games opened last Saturady (Sept 6) and will run till September 17. Didn’t manage to catch the opening ceremony live; I don’t think it’s shown on my local channels… had to catch the clips from Youtube instead.
I am not sure about international media… but my local press are not giving much attention to the event, which is a pity because although its popularity is non comparable to Olympic Games, Paralympics is still one of the largest worldwide sporting events and features some amazing athletes.
Well, at least the Chinese organiser seems to be working hard to make the Paralympics a successful event as well. The opening ceremony, again directed by Zhang Yimou, was quite a splendid show; and the Chinese media are giving the games some decent coverage too. Kudos for all that.
Check out the Beijing 2008 Paralympics’ official website for information and updates. Check out this link for some opening ceremony’s photos.
Harper’s Bazaar magazine (Chinese edition) held their sixth annual charity gala in Beijing last Friday (Aug 22) with the attendance of some 300 celebrities, including A-list stars like Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and former UK’s Prime Minister Tony Blair etc.
The 2008 gala managed to raise 10.35 million Yuan (~USD1.5 million) which will be channelled to the relief work in quake-hit areas in Sichuan province.
The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games has officially ended. Set aside a few controversies, it was a job well done by the Chinese organiser in running the event. Kudos for that.
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.
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.
American shooter Matthew Emmons is going to be one of the most memorable characters in Olympic history…
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.
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.
Besides “You and Me” the official theme song, there are a dozen of two other theme songs that are endorsed by the Beijing Games organiser. I have shared “Beijing Welcomes You” and “Olympics in Beijing” previously; here are a few more that’s worth mentioning…
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…
