2008 Beijing Olympics

The 2008 Beijing Olympics will be held at the Beijing National Stadium, in Beijing, China from August 8. Some events, including football, equestrian and sailing, will be organized outside Beijing. The capital of China, Beijing's name for the Olympic Games was chosen after an exhaustive ballot of the International Olympic Committee in July 2001.

The official logo of the Summer Olympics, Dancing Beijing, features a character jing (which means capital). A favorite color of the Chinese people is red, which conveys their wish for luck and happiness and their explanation of life. The mascots of Beijing Olympics are the five Fuwa, each fuwa for five colors of the Olympic rings. The Olympic slogan is One World, One Dream.

In this time's Summer Olympic Games, participants will vie for medals in 302 events in 28 sports. Nine more events will be added to the list of 2008 Olympic Sports.

These include two new disciplines of BMX cycling and 3000 meter steeplechase for women. This is the very first time that women athletes are running in long distance steeple case.

Another interesting addition in the swimming discipline is the marathon swimming event both for men and women, over 10 kilometers of distance.

Athletics events have always taken the centrestage in Olympic Games over the centuries. To make Olympic Games more interesting, new events are innovated. Team games like baseball, softball have been introduced. Apart from athletics, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, canoeing, diving, equestrian, fencing, hockey, basketball, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, water polo, boxing, weightlifting and wrestling events are also there in 2008 Olympic Sports. Agenda in 2008 Beijing Olympics is like that of the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics Sports. Among the 302 sports events, 2008 Beijing Olympic Sports include 165 men's events, 127 womens events and 10 mixed events meant for both men and women together like in mixed doubles matches in tennis or in synchronized swimming.

Doubles events in table tennis will no longer be held in 2008 Beijing Olympic. Separate team events of men and women in table tennis are going to replace the doubles events. The 2008 Olympic Sports of aquatics has been categorized into the disciplines of swimming, synchronized swimming, diving and water polo.


World's videogame lovers association requested the Chinese government to allow video games as demonstrating sports in 2008 Olympic Games as a revolutionary measure. The talks were held in mid-2006. Demonstration events used to take place before 1992. Be it Summer or Winter Olympics, demonstrations events for sports have not been held since then.

Then in August 2006, the Beijing Organizing Committee released pictogramof 35 for 2008 Beijing Olympics sports disciplines. These pictograms of various sports events in 2008 Olympic will help people from across the globe identify the different sports played at 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

These icons or graphical characters together are called beauty of seal characters as they have similarity to Chinese seal script. Following are the details of sports to be played at the 2008 Beijing Olympics given along with the number of events: