Some Chinese have gone to considerable expense to obtain things of eight. The telephone number 8888-8888 was purchased for over US$270,000 in Chengdu.

With the 2008 Olympics taking place in the eighth month, it’s no surprise that the Beijing Organizing Committee has done some creative scheduling. The Opening Ceremony will take place on the 8th of August at 08:08:08pm CST (China Standard Time.)

With so many eights, the games of the 29th Olympiad will be prosperous indeed.

However, the IOC does not see blogging as a form of journalism and consequently is requiring that any content written by accredited persons about the Olympic Games is restricted to their personal Olympic experience. In order to keep to the IOC blogging format, athletes are:

• Banned from posting any audiovisual material. The exception is pictures taken outside accredited areas, or personal pictures inside those areas that are not of any sporting events.
• Banned from posting any confidential information on third parties.
• Blogs cannot have exclusive agreements or advertising, or commercial activity with any company or third party.
• Blogs should adhere to the Olympic Spirit.

While the IOC is concerned with athletes posting opinions on political matters such as China’s human rights record, the majority of the guidelines are more concerned with commercial matters.

The broadcast rights contracts for the Olympic games are worth billions of dollars, and the IOC is understandably concerned with making sure those contracts are not violated.

This will be one of the many challenges that the IOC and other sporting organisations will face in the coming years. The New Media at the Olympics has given the average person the ability to participate in the news making process. But at the same time is making it more difficult to enforce the commercial contracts traditionally loved by the old media.

It may be that allowing Olympic Athletes the right to blog at the 2008 Beijing Olympics is a test case for the International Olympic Committee. If that is the case, it will be interesting to see how it will be handled at this years games, and at the Olympic Games in years to come.

Thanks: The Guardian

You might now be thinking of athletes using high tech performance enhancing drugs or means to avoid detection. Or, you might be thinking of the fantastic shows that will be put on during the opening and closing ceremonies.

In fact, technology will play a understated but significant role in reporting the Olympics.

It has never been easier for individuals to disseminate information to the world. Laptops, cell phones and the Internet will make it a snap for Citizen Journalists attending the events to send that information home to friends and family, or post it up to a blog or website.

Up until now, the old media barons of television and newspaper publishing have held a stranglehold on who sees and reads about what events. Part of this is due to restrictions on how much can actually be shown.

But money also plays a part. Events that might not be mainstream sports simply don’t get much coverage. After all, ratings brings in the advertisers who want the most eyes for their products.

New media changes all that.

With video clips from all events speeding through the ether from cell phone to website, there will be much more coverage for all to see.

With the explosion of the blog phenomenon, there will be far more ‘channels’ to view and read about the events. And, instead of getting the paid opinion of a network TV talking head, there will be a multitude of views to choose from, some informed… some not so much.

We here at Bound for Beijing invite you to take part in this new media coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games. While we don’t have the good fortune to attend in person, we’ll be watching the sources, and presenting that information to you.

And, if you are one of the lucky ones Bound for Beijing this summer, please feel free to send a SMS, cell phone photo, or even a commentary to share with our community.

The Olympic flame lighting ceremony is an important event for each Olympic games. However, flames of a different sort have caused a lot of trouble for Greek Officials.

This year the hills and fields of Olympia were ravaged by severe summer bushfires that killed 66 people. Despite the loss of life, firefighters were able to stop the fires short of the ancient ruins and archaeological museum.

Now the race is on to replant the forests around the site before the March 24th flame lighting ceremony. Even though hampered by bureaucracy, 75 percent of the work has been performed, with the remainder to be completed by the end of February.

This has come at a cost of 3.9 million dollars, graciously donated by the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, with an additional 1.9 million dollars for replanting to be complete by 2010.

Thanks: Espn

This is part five of five segments.

This is part four of five segments.

This is part three of five segments.

This is part two of five segments.

This is part one of five segments.

These events are looking like they are going to be very popular. Over half of the tickets for the 2008 Olympic Equestrian events have now been sold, and ticketing authorities have started the second phase of the ticket selling program.

You’ll need to get in quick if you want to get your hands on a ticket for these events. Once the second phase is finished, there will be no more tickets on sale for the equestrian events until a month before the games.

Thanks: China Real News