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Beijing Summer Sports Games 2008
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be held in Beijing, China from August 8, 2008 to August 24, 2008, with the opening ceremony to take place at 8 p.m. on August 8, 2008 (08-08-08; the number 8 is associated with prosperity in Chinese culture). Some events, like beach volleyball, sailing and open water swimming will be held in the coastal city of Qingdao. On July 8, 2005, the International Olympic Committee announced that Hong Kong will hold the equestrian events at the site of the Hong Kong Sports Institute in Fo Tan, Sha Tin. The facilities of the Sports Institute may be moved to Wu Kai Sha. This will be the second time the same season of Olympic Games has been hosted by two National Olympic Committees. (A similar arrangement was in place between Melbourne, Australia, and Stockholm, Sweden, for the 1956 Summer Olympics).
Beijing was elected host city on July 13, 2001, during the 112th IOC Session in Moscow, beating out Toronto, Paris, Istanbul and Osaka. Prior to the session, five other cities submitted bids to the IOC but failed to make the shortlist in 2000; Bangkok, Cairo, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, and Seville. Beijing was previously bid to host the 2000 Summer Olympics, but lost to Sydney in 1993.
History - Olympics
The Olympic fire was lit in Amsterdam in 1928. The Olympic torch relay was held in Berlin in 1936. Since then it has always ben a vastly important part of the Olympics and symbol of Olympic spirit. The fire of the Olympics represents holiness, sports and the pursuit for the world peace which are all reflected in the Olympic spirit.
Tickets are available now for all events of both the winter and summer games, including Bobsleigh tickets, Curling tickets, Ice Hockey tickets, Luge tickets, Skating tickets, Skiing tickets, opening ceremony tickets, closing ceremony tickets, Fencing Tickets, Olympic Aquatics Tickets, Olympic Athletics Tickets Olympic Baseball Tickets Olympic Basketball (Preliminary) Tickets Olympic Beach Volleyball Tickets Olympic Canoe Kayak Flatwater Racing Tickets Olympic Closing Ceremonies Tickets Olympic Cycling Tickets Olympic Cycling - Track Tickets Olympic Diving Tickets Olympic Fencing (Finals) Tickets Olympic Field Hockey Tickets Olympic Game Tickets Olympic Gymnastics Tickets Olympic Gymnastics - Rhythmic Tickets Olympic Handball (Finals) Tickets Olympic Hockey Tickets Olympic Marathon Tickets Olympic Opening Ceremonies Tickets Olympic Rowing Tickets Olympic Shooting Tickets Olympic Swimming Tickets Olympic Table Tennis Tickets Olympic Triathlon Tickets Olympic Waterpolo (Preliminary) Tickets Olympic Weightlifting Tickets . Call today to reserve all your Olympics tickets now.
The earliest recorded Olympic Games were held at Olympia in ancient Greece in 776 B.C. This tradition took place every four years for one thousand years. The modern Olympic Movement started in 1894 when French educator, Pierre de Coubertin, brought together a group of sports and philosophy leaders from around the world for the International Athletic Congress. The group, which later became the International Olympic Committee (IOC), unanimously decided to revive the ancient Games. In 1896, the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece, their country of origin. The first Winter Sport included in the Olympic Games was Figure Skating in 1908. Later, Ice Hockey was added in 1920. The First Olympic Winter Games were staged in Chamonix, France, in 1924. 294 athletes from 16 nations took part in 14 events. For the next 68 years, the Winter Games were held the same year as the Summer Games. A new tradition was begun in 1994 with the Winter Games held in Lillehammer. Even though the Winter Olympics are still held every four years, they now alternate in a two-year cycle with the Summer Games. At the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, more than 2,000 athletes from more than 70 nations competed in 78 different events. Half of these events have been added to the Olympic programme since 1984.
Cultural activities play a very important role in the Olympics, and the two can at no time be separated. Combining sports and culture not only explores new territory for cultural development, but also makes the Olympic Games a more cultural and more attractive sports event. Only through the involvement of culture does the Olympic Games become a great event that people around the world await with great expectations.
We carry tickets for all event, including Biathlon tickets, Bobsleigh tickets, Curling tickets, Ice Hockey tickets, Luge tickets, Skating tickets, and Skiing tickets. Tickets are available now. Call today to get your Biathlon tickets, Bobsleigh tickets, Curling tickets, Ice Hockey tickets, Luge tickets, Skating tickets, and Skiing tickets.
Olympic Handball
Olympic Handball is played on a court forty meters long by twenty meters wide, with a dividing line in the middle and a goal in the center of either end. The goals are surrounded by a near-semicircular line that is generally six meters away from the goal. There is also a dashed near-semicircular line that is nine meters away from the goal.
In Olympic Handball only the defending goalkeeper is allowed to step inside the six meter perimeter, though any player may attempy to catch and touch the ball in the air within it. If a player should find himself in contact inside the goal perimeter he must immediately take the most direct path out of it. Should a defender make contact with an attacker while in the goal perimeter, their team is penalized with a direct attempt at the goal, with only one attacker on the seven-meter line and the defending goalkeeper involved.
In Olympic Handball the ball is smaller than a football in order for the players to be able to hold and handle it with a single hand (though contact with both hands is perfectly allowed). Some American versions use a volleyball. It is transported by bouncing it between hands and floor - much as in basketball. A player may only hold the ball for three seconds and may only take three steps with the ball in hand. There are many rule variations; a common American version allows only a single step with the ball, after which the player must pass the ball to another teammate or shoot.
Olympic Boxing
Olympic Boxing has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since its introduction to the program at the 1904 Summer Olympics except 1912. Olympic Boxing weight classes are Flyweight, Bantamweight, Featherweight, Lightweight, Welterweight, Middleweight, Heavyweight. Olympic Boxing competitions award Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.
Olympic Canoe Kayak Flatwater Racing
A popular sport is the Olympic Canoe Kayak Flatwater Racing. The history of the canoe and kayak has been traced back thousands of years to when natives used these craft to hunt, fish and travel. Canoes were used mainly by the native North and South American Indians along with the Polynesian islanders of the Pacific. They were propelled through the water by single-bladed paddles usually made from wood.
Olympic Canoe Slalom Racing
A popular sport is the Olympic Canoe Slalom Racing. The history of the canoe and kayak has been traced back thousands of years to when natives used these craft to hunt, fish and travel. Canoes were used mainly by the native North and South American Indians along with the Polynesian islanders of the Pacific. They were propelled through the water by single-bladed paddles usually made from wood.
The earliest known archaeological evidence of a canoe was unearthed at the tomb of a Sumerian king near the Euphrates River. This relic is estimated to be around 6,000 years old. From that evolved Olympic Canoe Slalom racing.
The counterpart of the American Indian canoe is the kayak which was introduced by Eskimos many years ago. These people inhabited the land to the far noth of the American continent and Greenland. That would someday become Olympic Canoe Kayak Slalom racing at the Olympics.
Olympic Judo
Olympic Judo is a popular Olympic spectator sport. Judo means "the gentle way" in Japanese. Of course, it is derived in part from jujitsu, the hand-to-hand combat technique of ancient samurai warriors, and everything is relative. While throwing opponents to the floor wins most matches, it is the only Olympic sport where submission holds allow choking an opponent or breaking an arm.
Developed by Dr Jigoro Kano in the 1880s, the sport of Olympic Judo broke into the Olympic Games in 1964 at Tokyo. The host country could add one sport, and Japan chose Judo. Four weight classes were established, and Japanese entries promptly won three.
However, in the fourth, the open class of Olympic Judo, a 1.98-metre Dutchman named Anton Geesink defeated three-time Japanese national champion Kaminaga Akio before 15,000 people at Nippon Budokan Hall. And then he beat him again. It followed victories earlier in the year over other top Japanese opponents, deeply bruising the theory that a skilled judoka could defeat any opponent of any size.
Olympic Modern Pentathlon
The Olympic Pentathlon story is of a young French cavalry officer of the 19th century was sent on horseback to delivery a message. He rode across the uneven terrain, through enemy lines, and was confronted by a soldier with his sword drawn. Challenged to a duel, the officer won, only to have his horse shot out from under him by another enemy soldier.
After felling that soldier with a single shot, the officer ran on. He swam across a raging river, and then finally he delivered the message. So, legend has it, was born the modern pentathlon.
The brainchild of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, the event was based upon the unlucky officer and introduced into the Stockholm Games of 1912. Only remotely resembling the ancient pentathlon inspired by the wamongering Spartans, modern pentathletes shoot, fence, swin, compete in show jumping and run - five event testing endurance as well as athletic versatility which is todays Modern Olympic Pentathlon.
Olympic Rowing
Tactically, it sounds as ludicrous as sprinting the first five kilometres of a marathon. To win a 2000-metre Olympic Rowing rowing race, the crew must sprint for the first 500 metres. Such are the demands in the sport of the Athlete of the Century and the Oarsome Foursome.
Olympic Rowing is an endurance test that finishes at a speed of up to 10 metres a second. Crews cover the middle 1000 metres at about 40 strokes per minute, but, over the first and last 500 metres, shift up a gear to as many as 47.
Olympic Rowing at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the 1900 Summer Olympics. The sport had been on the program at the 1896 Summer Olympics but was cancelled due to weather. Only men were aloowed to compete until 1976 when womens events were introduced at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Olympic Sailing
Olympic Sailing first became an Olympic Sailing sports in Paris in 1900, where time handicaps were used to adjudicate the race. The race format and the classes of competing boats have changed frequently since then. Olympic Sailing racing is now conducted with boats categorized into one-design classes based on similar weights and measurements.
US SAILINGs Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) is dedicated to increasing the support for every athlete who aspires to represent the United States in the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Olympic Sailing has become a popular spectator sport in the Olympics.
Olympic Shooting
Olympic Shooting is a popular sort in the Olympic summer games. Olympic history abounds with tales of athletes who overcame crippling adversity to win gold medals, but Karoly Takacs comeback may be the best. Takacs was part of Hungarys world-champion pistol-shooting team in 1938 when an army grenade exploded in his right hand. Ten years later, he won the first two golds in rapid-fire pistol - after teaching himself to shoot left-handed.
Olympic Shooting is a sport where the bullseye looks about the size of the full stop at the end of this sentence, a sport where shooters compete amid a cacophony of noise and still concentrate on firing between heartbeats, Takacs achievement tests the imagination.
From just three shooting events at the 1896 Olympic Games to 17 today, the sport of Olympic Shooting has brown steadily. In part this leap can be ascribed to advances in the technology of firearms and equipment, which have led to constant changes in the shooting competition. But it can also be ascribed to the passion shooters have for their sport.
Olympic Table Tennis
Olympic Table Tennis is also known as Gossima, Whiff-Whaff, Flim-Flam and most popularly known as Ping-Pong. Whatever name it assumes, table tennis has come a long way since its introduction as a genteel, after-dinner alternative to lawn tennis in 1890s England. Today, players compete for big money, wield high-tech rackets and volley the ball at speeds up to 160 kilometres per hour. Table tennis has become the worlds largest participation sport, with 40 million competitive players worldwide and countless millions playing recreationally.
The game of Olympic Table Tennis which debuted in the Olympic Games in 1988 at Seoul, began with cigar-box lids for rackets and a carved champagne cork for a ball. Today, players use specially developed rubber-coated wooden and carbon-fibre rackets and a lightweight, hollow celluloid ball. Various rubber compounds and glues are applied on the rackets to impart greater spin or speed.
Some glues are banned from Olympic Table Tennis competition because they make the ball travel up to 30km/h faster.
Olympic Taekwondo
Olympic Taekwondo has become a popular Olympic sport for fans to watch. Various Korean forms of martial arts have existed but in the early 20th century, taekwondo became the dominant form. In 1955 a group of Korean martial arts leraders chose taekwondo as the definitive Korean martial art in an attempt to promote its development internationally.
In 1973, the Korean government recognised the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) as the legitimate governing body of the sport, and the first World Championships were held in that year.
The Olympic Taekwondo competition format includes four weight classes each for men and women, half the number used in World Championships. It involves a single-elimination tournament to decide the gold and silver medals.
Olympic Tennis
When Irishman John Boland travelled to Athens for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, he had no idea he would return home with the gold medal in Olympic Tennis. But then, he had no idea he would compete either - he went as a spectator.
Times have changed dramaticaly for Olympic Tennis since then. Todays Olympic Tennis players include some of the highest-profile athletes in the world. Accustomed to five-star hotels and high-stakes prize money, at the Olympic Games they will bunk in the Olympic Village and compete for nothing but a golf medal.
Olympic Tennis was dropped from the Olympic program after 1924 amid turmoil over such issues as where to draw the line between amateurism and professionalism, and it didn't return as a medal sport until 1988. Today, Olympic Tennis competition includes mens and womens singles and mens and womens doubles.
Olympic Triathlon
The Olympic Triathlon is a new Olympic sport. The first triathlon was held in the south-western United States city of San Diego in 1974, in many ways an outgrowth of the California jogging craze. The ultimate endurance test, it requires athletes to excel at three very different pursuits - swimming, cycling and running. The sport demands particularly intense dicipline because each are requires a high-level training schedule.
Olympic Triathlon races are held over four distances, labelled Sprint, Olympic, Long Course and Ultra. The Olympic triathlon comprises a 1.5 kilometre swim, a 40km bike ride, and a 10km run.
After a mass start, the race remains continuous, with no stop between the three legs. Changeovers, then, are vital to race strategy. Women are expected to finish in just over two hours, with men requiring about 1 hour 50 minutes. The women race their Olympic Triathlon on the opening morning of the Games, following by the mens Olympic Triathlon the next morning.
Olympic Volleyball
Olympic Volleyball is a sport just now gaining popularity. Volleyball, like basketball, is a sport whose origin is known almost to the day. Oddly enough, both sports were invented at the same college and within a few years of one another. Volleyball was invented in 1895 by William G. Moran, a student at Springfield College and a director of the YMCA at Holyoke, Massachusetts. The game was originally called "Mintonette".
Volleyball quickly spread around the world and became more popular in other countries than in the United States. The Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) was formed in 1946. The sport of Olympic Volleyball was introduced to the Olympics in 1964 by the Japanese, although it was never contested as a demonstration sport at the Olympics. No country has been truly dominant in volleyball, although the Soviet Union has won the most medals. Originally the Japanese had the worlds best women players while the United States had the best mens team in the world throughout 1980s.
Olympic Volleyball has now reached great heights of popularity in the United States and Brazil, largely thanks to the discipline of beach volleyball. The beach volleyball phenomenon, although hugely visible, is still just in its infancy. From the first FIVB World Tour event just over ten years ago, to the overwhelming spectator and television success of Beach at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, beach volleyball has opened up Volleyball to a completely new market.
Olympic Wrestling
If the Olympic Games are a history of mankind, Olympic Wrestling is the prologue. When the ancient Games of the Olympiad were born, wrestling already was an ancient game. Widely recognised as the worlds oldest competitive sport, wrestling appeared in a series of Egyption wall paintings as many as 5000 years ago. When the Games began in 776 BC, more than two millenniums later, it included wrestling, and, in the years that followed, wrestling featured as the main event.
The sport of Olympic Wrestling would return in a similar role when the Olympic Games returned after a 1500-year absence in 1896. Organisers, seeking direct links to ancient times, found a natural in the sport that had enjoyed popularity across much of the ancient world, from Greece, Assyria and Babylon to India, China and Japan. They resurrected Greco-Roman wrestling, a style they believed to be an exact carryover from the Greek and Roman wrestlers of old.
In Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling, the wrestlers used only their arms and upper bodies to attack. They could hold only those same parts of their opponents. It worked nicely from a historical perspective, but another breezier style was sweeping across Great Britain and the United States by then. Known as "catch as catch can", it had become standard fare - and popular professional entertainment - at fairs and festivals in both countries. In 1904, the Olympic Games added the second wrestling event and called it "freestyle". Now, wrestlers could use their legs for pushing, lifting and tripping, and they could hold opponents above or below the waist.
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