The Olympics are over, and most of the athletes have returned home to be paraded in front of adoring crowds. Now it is Bob’s turn to do the same (minus the crowds), back in Shanghai again now and the UK tomorrow. However this is not the end of the events in Beijing, or the Beijing [...]
Archive for August, 2008
Bye Bye Beijing
Posted in Architecture, Beijing, Culture, London 2012, Paralympics, tagged 2008 Olympics, 2008 paralympcis, beijing 2008, Beijing Olympics, beijing paralympics, London 2012, london olympics, Paralympics on 29 August 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Olympic Security – Knives, bombs and the Welsh Dragon
Posted in Censorship, Protests, tagged beijing olympcis, olympic security, olympics, Tibet on 26 August 2008 | 1 Comment »
Queuing up to pass through one of the many security check points at the Olympics on one occasion there was a recording being played over the PA system: “Flags of non-participating countries and regions, and sharp objects are not permitted into the Olympic Green”. At first this seemed like a strange combination – why should [...]
Search Engine Suggests Chinese Gymnast is Underage
Posted in Athletes, Censorship, Media, tagged Beijing Olympics, chen ruolin, chinese gymnastics, chinese gymnasts, gymnastics, gymnasts, he kexin, olympic gymnastics, olympic gymnasts, stryde on 26 August 2008 | 2 Comments »
The latest controversy associated with the Chinese government and the Beijing Olympics has been to do with the age of their gymnasts, and specifically gold medal-winning He Kexin (何可欣). Allegations have suggested that Miss He was born in 1994, meaning that she is too young to compete in the Olympics (16 years or older), while [...]
Getting Olympic Tickets in Beijing
Posted in Uncategorized on 22 August 2008 | 3 Comments »
Much has been made of the scarcity of tickets in Beijing and yet in the first week there was a pandemic of half-empty stadia spreading the city. The government have been publicising their active work to shut down ticket touts and prevent illegal re-sale of official tickets. However, this is typical PR and bluff promoted [...]
Interview with Triple Jumper Nathan Douglas
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Beijing Olympics, british athletes, nathan douglas, phillips idowu, triple jump on 22 August 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The triple jump was an event in which Britain had high hopes for success and Bob has particular person interest too. Phillips Idowu was touted as one of the hottest gold medal chances in Team GB’s track and field brigade, while Bob was particularly excited about seeing an old classmate – Nathan Douglas – compete [...]
Chasing the Gold Rush Around Beijing
Posted in Athletes, Beijing, Censorship, Media, The Games, Tickets, Track and Field, World Records, tagged 2008 Olympics, 400m, Beijing Olympics, bmx, bradly wiggins, british gold medals, chris hoy, christine ohuruogu, cycling, germain mason, laoshan, olympics, shanaze reade, victoria pendleton on 22 August 2008 | 1 Comment »
As the rain poured down in Beijing on Thursday it seemed like a good opportunity to stay in and catch up on some blogging – unfortunately Bob’s internet connection disagreed, and would not allow this post. Trying again now, on Friday. It has been difficult to fit in posts, around ticket-hunting, sport-watching, exploring Beijing and [...]
Liu Xiang Withdraws in Beijing
Posted in Athletes, Public expectation, The Games, Track and Field, tagged 110m hurdles, Beijing Olympics, bird's nest, high hurdles, Liu Xiang on 18 August 2008 | 5 Comments »
Liu Xiang has been forced out of the 110m hurdles at the first hurdle (apologies), due to a leg injury. Round 1 of his event began this morning, and, but not before rumours were fluttering around the Bird’s Nest that he was injured. The crowd were on edge, but when Liu valliently came out for [...]
Kicking Off in Shanghai
Posted in Athletes, Beijing, The Games, Tickets, tagged 2008 Olympics, Beijing Olympics, belgium, football, haka, new zealand, olympic football, shanghai stadium on 15 August 2008 | 1 Comment »
Bob’s Olympic experience kicked off on Wednesday at the football qualifiers in Shanghai. The game could hardly be described as thrilling – New Zealand lost 1-0 to Belgium in a match so one-sided that the Belgians appeared to miss opportunities out of embarrassment for their opponents more than inability. The highlight for the smattering of [...]
Olympic Rowing Interview – David Blackham
Posted in Athletes, Beijing, Drugs, Guest Posts, Preparation, The Games, tagged 2008 Olympics, Beijing Olympics, chinese rowing, coxless fours, olympic gold, olympic rowing, rowing, Zac Purchase on 15 August 2008 | 1 Comment »
With the Olympic Rowing finals around the corner, Bob has interviewed British junior coach David Blackham to find out his thoughts on the emergence of a strong Chinese team, the weather conditions and the chance of the British rowers. Here is what he had to say, before heading out to see the Games for himself: [...]
Mystery of the Missing Olympic Tickets
Posted in Public expectation, Sponsors, The Games, Tickets, tagged Beijing Olympics, BOCOG, empty seats, olympic orgnaisers, olympic tickets on 13 August 2008 | 7 Comments »
The familiar site of a huge sporting event with empty seats has struck again in Beijing it seems. Many of the lower profile events – despite being completely sold out! – have failed to draw a full crowd. This is really upsetting for fans, particularly those who have not been able to purchase tickets legitimately, [...]
