 Emblem of the 2008 Summer Olympics[a] | |
| Location | Beijing, China |
|---|---|
| Motto | One World, One Dream (同一个世界 同一个梦想; Tóng yīge shìjìe tóng yīge mèngxiǎng) |
| Nations | 204 |
| Athletes | 10,899 (6,290 men, 4,609 women) |
| Events | 302 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) |
| Opening | 8 August 2008 |
| Closing | 24 August 2008 |
| Opened by | |
| Closed by | |
| Cauldron | |
| Stadium | Beijing National Stadium |
Summer Winter
2008 Summer Paralympics | |
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| Part of a series on |
| 2008 Summer Olympics |
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The 2008 Summer Olympics (2008年夏季奥运会), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (第二十九届夏季奥林匹克运动会) and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (北京2008), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China.[c] A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 28 sports and 302 events, one event more than those scheduled for the 2004 Summer Olympics.[2] This was the first time China had hosted the Olympic Games, and the third time the Summer Olympic Games had been held in East Asia, following the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. These were also the second Summer Olympic Games to be held in a communist state, the first being the 1980 Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union (with venues in Russia, Ukraine, Byelorussia, and Estonia).
Beijing was awarded the 2008 Games over four competitors on 13 July 2001, having won a majority of votes from members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after two rounds of voting.[3] The Government of the People's Republic of China promoted the 2008 Games and invested heavily in new facilities and transport systems. 37 venues were used to host the events, including twelve constructed specifically for the 2008 Games. The equestrian events were held in Hong Kong, making these the third Olympics for which the events were held under the jurisdiction of two different NOCs.[d] The sailing events were contested in Qingdao, while the football events took place across several different cities.
The official logo for the 2008 Games, titled "Dancing Beijing" (舞动北京), created by Guo Chunning (郭春宁), featured the Chinese character for capital (京, stylized into the shape of a human being) in reference to the host city. The 2008 Olympics were watched by 3.5 billion people worldwide, and featured the longest distance for an Olympic Torch relay.[4][5] The 2008 Games also set numerous world and Olympic records, and were the most expensive Summer Olympics of all time, and the second most expensive overall, after the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.[6][7] The opening ceremony was lauded by spectators and numerous international presses as spectacular, spellbinding, and by many accounts, "the greatest ever in the history of Olympics".[8][9][10] Beijing hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics, making it the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Games.
An unprecedented 87 countries won at least one medal during the 2008 Games. Host nation China won the most gold medals (48), and became the seventh different team to top the Summer Olympics medal standings, winning a total of 100 medals overall. The United States placed second in the gold medal tally but won the highest number of medals overall (112). The third place in the gold and overall medal tally was achieved by Russia.
This Olympic Games marked the return of the Summer Olympic Games to Asia after the 1988 Olympics in South Korea. It was the first Olympics for Serbia as a separate state since 1912 and the first for Montenegro, having separated from Serbia in 2006. It was also the first Olympics for Nepal as a republic, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu. Mongolia and Panama each won their first Olympic gold medal. In addition, Afghanistan, Mauritius, Serbia, Sudan, Tajikistan and Togo won their first Olympic medals at these Games. North Korea, having symbolically marched with South Korea as one team at the opening ceremonies of the preceding three Games that it entered (2000 in Sydney, 2004 in Athens, and 2006 in Turin), paraded separately this time.
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- ^ a b "Factsheet - Opening Ceremony of the Games of the Olympiad" (PDF) (Press release). International Olympic Committee. 9 October 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
- ^ "Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics Games". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
- ^ Longman, Jere (14 July 2001). "OLYMPICS; Beijing Wins Bid for 2008 Olympic Games". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 November 2010. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
- ^ "Longest distance for an Olympic torch relay". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ Fixmer, Andy (5 September 2008). "Beijing Olympics Attracted Most Viewers, Nielsen Says". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 19 September 2009. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
- ^ Rabinovitch, Simon. "Beijing Games to be costliest, but no debt legacy". U.S. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ "#1: 2008 Beijing Games - $40 billion - pg.2". Forbes. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ "Press hails 'greatest ever' Olympic opening show". Agence France-Presse. 9 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 August 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
- ^ "World records set in Beijing Olympics". chinadaily.com.cn. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ^ "China to showcase art performance directed by Zhang Yimou at Pyeongchang Winter Olympics". The Straits Times. 27 January 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.