China

Anne Veenendaal, one of two out LGBTQ players in the Netherlands team, shut the door on China's upset hopes in a shootout victory to claim Olympic gold.

Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen won Olympic gold for China, and there is speculation of a courageous romance between the two.

I enjoyed this item, courtesy of Juliet Pyles, on some the nicknames the Chinese have given to high-profile Olympians. I enjoyed this item, courtesy of Juliet Pyles, on some the nicknames the Chinese have given to high-profile Olympians.

From the L.A. Times comes this weird tale about the crowds — or lack of them — at many Olympic venues. All the tickets for all the events have been “sold out” for weeks, yet an event might have only 25% of the seats filled. No one knows exactly why, but now organizers are busing […]

I don’t care about the medal race that a lot of people and countries obsess about, as if winning Olympic medals somehow tells us something positive about that country (one could argue the opposite). Still, I found it odd that the medal table of the official Beijing 2008 website ranks countries based on the number […]

I am very impressed with the schedule and results section of the official Beijing 2008 site. It really is "real time." During men's gymnastics, shown live in most of the U.S., the site was updated within seconds of each competitor starting and finishing. You also get the complete order of start, the medal events are […]

China’s Olympic athletes know pressure like no athletes anywhere. The pressure to win medals is so huge that anything short of gold, silver or bronze is considered a failure. Some call it the “home field disadvantage.” From the Los Angeles Times: Air rifle athlete Du Li was considered a shoo-in to win China’s first gold […]

The Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics was technically spectacular, not a surprise given that it cost at least $100 million (twice that of the Athens Games in 2004) and had the weight of an authoritarian government behind it. The gymnast who skywalked across the top of the stadium to light the torch performed a […]

The XXIX Olympic Games commenced at 8:08pm Beijing time on this 8th day of the 8th month of 2008. Eight is considered a lucky number in China — and they are very zealous about it! The Seattle Times staff shares a few examples: The XXIX Olympic Games commenced at 8:08pm Beijing time on this 8th […]

Time to set aside speculation about vice-presidential running mates and Green Bay Packers quarterbacks. The real question this week is who will light the Olympic cauldron in Friday’s Opening Ceremony? The final torchbearer is always a closely guarded secret — and occasionally produces a spectacular moment (if you don’t remember the archer who shot the […]