Beijing 2008

This year at the Beijing Olympics 205 countries have attended. This means there was alot of countries to get through in the Opening ceremony but it was an excellent one. The ceremony featured the four Ancient Chinese inventions which are paper making, movable type printing, compass and gunpowder.

There are five Olympic mascots for the Olympics this year and they are called the Fuwa.

The Fuwa represent the 5 colours of the Olympic rings and 4 of them are Chinas most loved animals. First of all is Beibei, she is a fish and in China fish and water designs are symbols of prosperity and harvest. Beibei is known to be pure and gentle and represents the blue Olympic ring. Next is Jingjing the panda, he takes the blessing of happiness wherever he goes. The lotus leaves on Jingjing's head represent the lush forest and the harmonious relationship between man and nature. Jingjing represents the Earths concern for the environment and he also represents the black Olympic ring. Now for Yingying who is a Tibetan Antelope, he symbolises of the vastness of China's landscape. He also carries the blessing of health, the strength of body that comes from harmony with nature. Yingying represents the yellow Olympic ring. Nini is a Swallow, and the bird wings on her head symbolise the infinite sky and spread good-luck as a blessing wherever she flies. Se represents the green Olympic ring. Now last but not least Huanhuan who is the Olympic flame, who is said to be the big brother amongst the Fuwa. He stands in the middle of the Fuwa as the Olympic spirit and inspires them to jump higher, run faster and be stronger. He is the red Olympic ring.

The metal tally at the moment for Australia is 14 Gold, 15 Silver and 17 Bronze as at the 24.8.08.

How the Olympics have Changed....

The Olympic games is held every four years in different countries' cities with athletes from different countries competing in the sporting events while representing their country. The symbol of the Olympic flag symbolizes the unity of the continents (North and South America considered as one continent) and the colors green, red, blue, yellow and black were chosen because at least one color was shown in a country's own flag.

However, back to the time of the Ancient Olympics, the games were only made to honor the Greek god, Zeus. Religion was the important part in the events where sacrifices and prayers were made to the gods. In Ancient History, people that weren't from Greece were restricted to participate in the games and women were not allowed to partake in the events as well; the penalty for being caught participating or watching the events could even lead to death!

Nowadays, athletes that won an event were given medals as a prize for their achievement. There were also medals for second place and third place which would be the silver and bronze medals. The three flags of the three finalists would be raised with the winner's flag being in the center and his or her national anthem would be sung so that the winner's country would be given recognition.

Back in the Ancient Olympics the recognition was only give to the winner; there would be no recognition give to the third or second place. The winner of an event would be crowned with an olive branch wreath that was taken from sacred olive trees of Zeus. Some athletes cheated in the events and people who were caught were fined and would be considered a disgrace to everyone. Winning in the events of the Ancient Olympic Games could also make an athlete extremely famous and could even make them become leaders in their community.

Overtime the Olympics have changed from being held in one place to hosting it in different countries; From having one recognition for winner only to acknowledging the second and third finalists of an event and many more changes have occurred since the beginning of the Olympics.

History of the Olympics and The Interesting facts over the years

History of the Olympics

The Olympic Games were 1st off a part of a religious festival. Like the modern Olympics there were no money prizes for winning any of the events but they were given a crown made of olive branches. They were special olive branches which came from an olive tree near the temple of Zeus.

People travelled great distances to go to the festival at Olympia. At the festival there were sports events which the best athletes from all of Greece would take part in. And at the beginning of the festival all of the athletes took an oath.

The festival lasted 5 days. On the 2nd day there was a pentathlon. It was similar to the modern day pentathlon with 5 separate events javelin, running, long jump, wrestling and discus.


On the 3rd day there was an important ceremony, oxen were sacrificed. The meat was shared around the crowd and parts of the meat were burned on top of a large altar. Also on the 3rd day there were running races. On the 4th day there was boxing, wrestling and pankration, which is like wrestling but with hardly any rules. There was also a running race where armour was worn. On the 5th day the events were over and prizes were given out to the champions of the events

The Interesting Facts of The Olympic Games (then and now).

• Men were the only people who were allowed to compete in the Olympic events
• Women who watched or competed in the Olympic events in the olden times were sentenced to death.
• Milo, a 6th century B.C. wrestler won the wrestling crown six times.
• The last medals that were awarded that were made of real gold were awarded in 1912.
• When choosing a location for the Olympics to be held, the the IOC specifically gives the honor of holding the Games to a city rather than a country.

Flags and Symbols (then and now) and The Countries involved in the Olympics.

The symbol for the olympics are the 5 multicolour rings. The colours represent all the different colours of the countries involved in the olympics.

The Olympic Motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius. Which means "Swifter, Higher, stronger." This motto is used with the Olympic Symbol which is the five coloured rings. The rings are interlocked to represent the sporting friendship of people from all over the world.

The five colors of the rings (black, blue, yellow, green, and red) were chosen because at least one of these colours appear in the flags of every nation of the world. The Olympic flag was first used in Antwerp in 1920, the five rings appear in the center of a white field.

The Olympic flame symbolizes the link between the ancient and modern games. By tradition the flame is carried by torch overland from Greece (except when it needs to travel over water) by a relay of athletes/people from participating countries. The games begin when the torch is used to light the flame signaling the beginning of competition.

At every Olympic Games opening ceremony an athlete from the host country takes the oath, "In the name of all the competitors l promise thatwe shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which governthem, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams"

Countries involved in the Olympic Games

At every Olympic Games that are held every several years, there are quite a number of countries that participate in this event. The countries are:

• Afghanistan
• Albania
• Algeria
• Andorra
  
• Angola
  
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Australia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• The Bahamas
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Belize
• Benin
• Bhutan
• Bolivia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
  
• Botswana
• Brazil
• Brunei
• Bulgaria
  
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Canada
• Cape Verde
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Chile
• China
• Colombia
• Comoros
• Congo, Republic
• Congo, Democratic Republic
• Costa Rica
• Cote dIvaire
  
• Croatia
• Cuba
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Djibouti
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• East Timor
• Ecuador
• Egypt
• El Salvador
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
  
• Estonia
• Ethiopia
• Fiji
• Finland
  
• France
• Gabon
• The Gambia
• Georgia
• Germany
• Ghana
• Greece
  
• Grenada
• Guatemala
  
• Guinea
  
• Guinea-Bissau
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Hungary
• Iceland
• India
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
  
• Kenya
• North Korea
• South Korea
  
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Latvia
• Lebanon
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Libya
• Liechtenstein
  
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Macedonia
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Mali
• Malta
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Mexico
  
• Federated State of Micronesia
• Moldova
  
• Monaco
• Mozambique
• Myanmar(Burma)
• Namibia
• Nauru
• Nepal
  
• Netherlands
  
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua
• Niger
• Nigeria
  
• Norway
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Palau
• Panama
• Papa New Guinea
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Qatar
• Romania
• Russian Federation
• Rwanda
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
  
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Samoa
• San Marino
  
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal
  
• Serbia and Montenegro
  
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• Slovakia
  
• Slovenia
  
• Solomon Islands
  
• Somalia
  
• South Africa
  
• Spain
  
• Sri Lanka
  
• Sudan
  
• Suriname
  
• Swaziland
  
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Syria
• Taiwan
  
• Tajikistan
  
• Tanzania
  
• Thailand
  
• Togo
  
• Tonga
  
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Tunisia
  
• Turkey
  
• Turkmenistan
  
• Uganda
  
• Ukraine
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom (Great Britain)
  
• United State
  
• Uruguay
  
• Uzbekistan
  
• Vanuatu
  
• Venezuela
• Vietna
• Yemen
• Zambia
  
• Zimbabwe