WINNERSGAMES OF THE 29TH OLYMPIAD
Start:
08 Aug 2008
End:
24 Aug 2008
Countries:
204
Athletes:
11196
Sports:
38
Events:
302
City:
Beijing, China (Qingdao - Sailing)
BEIJING 2008 - Bid History
- Five candidate cities bid to host the Olympic Games 2008: Beijing, China; Istanbul, Turkey; Osaka, Japan; Toronto, Canada and Paris, France.
- In July 2001, at the 112th IOC Session in Moscow, Beijing, China, was selected as the host city of the Games of the 29th Olympiad.
- It was the first election that used the two-phase bidding procedure, and the final ballot results were: Beijing - 56 votes, Toronto - 22.
Games of the 29th Olympiad, 2008 - Interesting Facts
- The Opening ceremony of the Games of the 29 Olympiad began at 08:08:08 local time on 08-08-2008 at the new 91,000-seat National Stadium, also known as Bird's Nest. Chinese President Hu Jintao officially opened the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
- Despite calls for a boycott of the Beijing 2008 Games following the Tibet crackdown, all National Olympic Committees except Brunei participated in the Games.
- Swimmer from the USA Michael PHELPS won 8 gold medals, beating Mark SPITZ'S record of seven in a single Olympics and becoming the most famous athlete in the history of the Olympic Games with 14 gold medals.
- The Australian female swimmer Stephanie RICE won three gold medals.
- The Chinese athlete Kai ZOU also won three gold medals in Gymnastics.
- The British athlete Chris HOY won three gold medals in Cycling as well.
- An athlete from Jamaica Usain BOLT won all sprint events in track and field - 100, 200m, and 4x100m relay - all in world record time. He was later stripped of one gold medal after the Jamaican team was disqualified in the relay.
Summer Olympics 2008 - Medal Table
BEIJING 2008 - Top Medalists
USA
8
0
0
AUS
3
0
0
CHN
3
0
0
GBR
3
0
0
AUS
2
1
1