China Beijing National Olympic Stadium
Capacity
The stadium can seat as many as 91,000 spectators during the Olympics. The capacity will then be reduced to 80,000 after the Games. It has replaced the original intended venue of the Guangdong Olympic Stadium.[7] The stadium is 330 metres (1,082 ft) long by 220 metres (721 ft) wide, and is 69.2 metres (227 ft) tall. The stadium uses 258,000 square metres (2,777,112 square feet) of space and has a usable area of 204,000 square metres (2,195,856 square feet). It was built with 36 km of unwrapped steel, with a combined weight of 45,000 tonnes.[7] The stadium will cost up to 3.5 billion yuan (423 million USD).[7]
credits: YOutube and Wikepedia
Beijing Olympics Opening
This picture was taken during the opening of the athletes' village last week, but I feel like it is the perfect image to go with on the day of the opening ceremonies. The Chinese Olympic team is all smiles heading into the village, and like the rest of the country, taking pride in the fact that the Games have finally arrived in Beijing. There is one guy in the back who looks like he is having a little more fun than the others though. He jumped on Yao's back and tried to playfully hit him with a stuffed animal. When I first saw this picture I could not stop laughing. Who is this guy? He looks like a five-year old who is trying to climb on his dad's shoulders at Disney World.
I hope NBC shows this guy during the opening ceremonies tonight, I can't wait to see what he does next.
As always, put your best caption ideas down below ...
After the jump, you'll see the winner from Wednesday's C-a-C
Michael Phelps pulls his best MJ impression
1st-- Speedy
"Gosh, I hate the taste of chlorine."
credit: Yahoo Sports and Youtube
Top 5 athlete in Beijing Olympics
BEIJING – The Summer Olympics begin here on Aug. 8 – 8-8-08. Team USA is expected to be extremely strong, China is using the event as a national coming-out party and everyone wants to know how pollution and potential political unrest could affect the Games.
As a primer, here are five athletes who should dominate the headlines and television time over the three weeks of competition.
Michael Phelps The Baltimore native won eight medals, six of them gold, four years ago in Athens and returns better than ever.
At last year’s world championships, the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder won seven gold medals and broke five world records. He is scheduled to compete in eight events (relays included) in Beijing, giving him the chance to match or exceed American Mark Spitz’s record seven golds at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Just 23, Phelps is already a major commercial pitchman and the face of these games for NBC, which plans on making swimming the signature event.
Kobe Bryant 2. KOBE BRYANT
Bryant – the acknowledged best basketball player in the world who spent much of his youth living abroad in Italy – is taking to the Olympic stage for the first time. His goal is simple: return the gold medal to the United States, which fell to bronze medal status in 2004.
USA Basketball is a collection of star players – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul – but it is Bryant who is expected to star in the crunch-time moments. His game is built for international basketball and his tenacity and skill at both ends of the court made his inclusion on the team so important.
As talented as Bryant is, he hasn’t endeared himself to non-Los Angeles Lakers fans the way previous stars such as Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson did. Leading Team USA to victory provides him a chance to make people forget past on- and off-court controversies.
The 6-6 suburban Philadelphia native will turn 30 on Aug. 23, one day before the gold medal game.
Dara Torres 3. DARA TORRES
At age 41, the mother of one coming off of two major surgeries stunned the swimming world with some incredible performances at July’s U.S. trials. In the 50-meter freestyle, she beat out previous gold medal favorite Natalie Coughlin, who is merely 16 years her junior.
While Torres has won nine Olympic medals, including four golds, her post-birth success took many by surprise. While many fans are inspired by a middle-aged mom potentially securing gold in such a demanding sport, others are highly skeptical of performance-enhancing drug use.
Torres has not tested positive, but not even the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s enhanced program is considered fool-proof. Moreover, she is posting faster times now than any time in her career.
She very well may be clean, but suspicions will undoubtedly continue to swirl throughout the games, making the Los Angeles native a conversation point for believers and cynics.
Shawn Johnson Just 16 years old and standing a mere 4-9, this West Des Moines, Iowa, resident is America’s best chance at all-around gold in women’s gymnastics. Despite her diminutiveness, Johnson is extremely strong, relying on her power as much as her grace and flexibility.
Johnson hopes to follow in the footsteps of Carly Patterson, who four years ago became the first American woman to win all-around gold in a non-boycott year. She also wants to lead the U.S. to a team gold, duplicating the accomplishment of the 1996 Magnificent Seven squad made famous by Kerri Strug’s final vault on a sprained ankle.
Team USA’s expected chief competition? The Chinese.
Liu Xiang 5. LIU XIANG
The People’s Republic of China has poured considerable resources to build up its sports system in an effort to compete on the international level. China finished third in total medals and second in golds.
Xiang, who won gold in Athens in the 110-meter hurdles, is the nation’s most beloved and famous athlete and the epitome of this movement. At 6-2, he is a formidable competitor whom the Chinese see as proof that their athletes can compete in any competition.
He will be spurred on by sold-out crowds and the hopes of a nation that goes 1.3 billion strong and make the usually anonymous 110 hurdles possibly the most watched event of these Olympics.
credit: Yahoo
Japan and US Footbal in Beijing Olympics
Atsuto Uchida(R) of Japan vies with an American football player. (Photo credit: Yang Zongyou/Xinhua)
(BEIJING, August 7) -- The United States started its Group B campaign with a hard-fought win over Japan on Thursday in Tianjin.
In a game of few clear-cut chances, Scottish-born Stuart Holden scored the decisive goal for the United States just after the half-time break, but Japan will rue its poor finishing.
In an open first half, Japan sought to impose its short passing game, while the United States looked to exploit its aerial strength with a series of high balls and long throws aimed at striker Brian McBride.
The only shot on target was from the United States Michael Bradley, who slammed his shot into the hands of Japanese goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa from 18 meters away.
A clever Japanese corner sliced open the United States' defense but defender Masato Morishige scuffed his shot wide after getting on the end of right-back Atsuto Uchida's cross.
The United States' took the lead in the 47th minute when Holden scored from close range, Nishikawa allowing the ball to squeeze under his body into the net.
Japan's energy levels dropped after the goal and Japan's coach Yasuharu Sorimachi boldly replaced two midfielders with strikers Tadanari Lee and Yohei Toyoda. However, Japan still could not score a goal.
The United States next play the Netherlands on Sunday, August 10, while Japan will look for its first points against Nigeria. Both games are at the Tianjin Olympic Centre Stadium.
US swimmers train at Water Cube
Dara Torres jumps off the blocks.
US swimmers train at the National Aquatics Center, namely the Water Cube, in Beijing, China, Aug. 4, 2008.
(Photo credit: Xinhua)
Margaret Hoelzer
Peter Vanderkaay (R) and his teammate
Margaret Hoelzer (below)
Caroline Burckle
Cullen Jones(L) trains with his teammates.
credit: Beijing Site
Night View at Beijing
Photo taken on Aug. 2, 2008 shows the night view of the Olympic Village in Beijing, China. (Photo credit: Zhang Guojun/Xinhua)
Photo taken on Aug. 1, 2008 shows the night view of the Olympic Village in Beijing, China. (Photo credit: Zhang Guojun/Xinhua)
Photo taken on Aug. 2, 2008 shows the cultural performance staged at night in the Olympic Village in Beijing, China. (Photo credit: Zhang Guojun/Xinhua)
Chinese style red lanterns enlighted the night of the Olympic Village in Beijing, China, August 1, 2008. (Photo credit: Zhang Guojun/Xinhua)
credit: Beijing Site
Philippine Boxer warms up for Beijing Olympics
MANILA, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Harry Tanamor, the solo Filipino boxer to fight in Beijing Olympic Games, will leave for Germany's Chemistry Cup on Wednesday as his last international meet warming up to the Olympics in August, a senior sports official said Tuesday.
Manny Lopez, president of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines, said the 29-year-old Olympic veteran boxer is in "great shape" after two-week intensive drill with Mexican counterparts in the national training center in northern Philippine city of Baguio.
Lopez said Tanamor will move up from his light flyweight division (48 kilogram) to flyweight division in Halle, Germany for the absence of light flyweight competition during the June 18-22 meet. Bantamweight boxer Charly Suarez, Cuba-trained featherweight Orlando Tacuyan Jr., and light welterweight Genebert Basadre, together with Tanamor, will form the four-men Filipino squad in Germany.
Home to World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao, the Philippines suffered a humiliating defeat in the Beijing Olympic qualification matches. Despite sports officials' expectation of 3-4 qualifiers, only Athen Games veteran Tanamor managed to grab a slot to the Beijing Games.
Tanamor finished at the second place in the light flyweight division of 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Chicago, defeated by Chinese rising star Zou Shiming.
Trained under Cuban coaches Juan Enrique Steyners Tissert and Pat Gaspi, Tanamor won a gold in last month's AIBA (International Boxing Association) President's Cup, which Zou did not attend.
RUSSIA'S 2008 Olympics Flag raising Ceremony
Russia's flag-raising ceremony (Photo credit: Xinhua)
(BEIJING, August 5) -- Russia's flag was raised in the Beijing Olympic Village during a ceremony attended by the Russian Olympic delegation.
(Photo credit: Wang Leishe/Xinhua)
Russia's flag-raising ceremony (Photo credit: Xinhua)
Russia's flag-raising ceremony (Photo credit: Xinhua)
Russia's flag-raising ceremony (Photo credit: Xinhua)
Russia's flag-raising ceremony (Photo credit: Xinhua)
blog credit: Beijing Olympics site
