Sergey Bubka, IOC Member and Olympian, made sure an official Beijing 2008 Olympic torch found a new home today amid the extensive Olympic memorabilia on display at the World of  Coca-Cola in Atlanta, USA.The Beijing Olympic torch joins a collection of Olympic memorabilia that includes seven other Olympic torches, thousands of Olympic-themed pins and artefacts dating as far back as t...

The IOC Disciplinary Commission, composed of Thomas Bach (Chairman), Denis Oswald and Gerhard Heiberg, met today in Lausanne (Switzerland) on three pending doping cases from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.  The meeting was convened to deal with adverse analytical findings for Vadim DEVIATOVSKIY, Belarus, silver medallist in the men’s hammer throw competition; Ivan TSIKHAN, Belarus, bron...

After 12 days of competition, the Closing Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games on 17 September 2008 officially ended a period of record-breaking competition and events.   279 world records  Almost 4,000 athletes from a total of 147 different countries around the world came to Beijing to compete in their respective sports. Some athletes competed in more than one event, but t...

An astonishing Opening Ceremony in Beijing on Saturday welcomed the world to the Paralympic Games. The Ceremony, which took place in the "Bird’s Nest", was witnessed by a full house of spectators from all over the world. During the three-hour event, the show focused on the “harmony between man and nature”, with three different parts – space, time and lif...

With the wonderful Beijing 2008 Olympic Games now over, the athletes of the world will be already starting to turn their attentions to the next summer Games, which will be held in London in 2012. With a vision to use the power of the Games to inspire change, London 2012 will look to create an experience where everyone is invited to take part, join in and enjoy the most exciting event in the world....

Sport — Amazing Venues, Amazing Results· A record 204 NOCs participating; record number of women participating · 132 Olympic records, 43 world records (as of 24/8 at 9:30) · A record 87 NOCs join medal count — the most ever · First-ever medals for Afghanistan, Mauritius, Tajikistan and Togo; first-ever gold medals for Bahrain, Mongolia and Panama; first indi...

Les deux derniers jours des Jeux ont marqué le grand moment de la compétition de gymnastique rythmique avec les athlètes d’Europe de l’Est occupant le devant de la scène comme il y a quatre ans. Rappelons-nous à Athènes, la Russe Natalia Lavrova devenait la première à remporter deux médailles d’or dans une discipline ...

China‘s medal sweep has so far marked the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. However, other countries also managed a breakthrough – not as impressive as the Chinese domination - but still important for their respective countries.  Afghanistan,Togo, Tajikistan and Mauritius on the mapAfghanistan,Togo, Tajikistan and Mauritius made it onto the Olympic medal tally for the first time. Rohull...

Giving new meaning to the phrase “the bigger the better,” twelve-time Olympic sponsor Panasonic has been supporting the Olympic Movement since the Calgary 1988 Olympic Winter Games. It is providing more equipment than ever in Beijing, beating the Athens 2004 Olympic Games record by more than one-and-a- half times more devices.   Large array-type speakers The state-of-the-art ...

Maris Strombergs of Latvia has won the gold medal in men's BMX cycling, holding off American stars Mike Day and Donny Robinson for the title. Strombergs took control from the start and remained in the lead the whole way, claiming the first-ever BMX Olympic men's gold on Friday. Anne-Caroline Chausson of France has won the first ever Olympic gold medal for BMX, finishing first in the high-speed eig...

One of the last sports to get under way at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, taekwondo is also one of the most recent additions to the Olympic programme, making its entrance as a full medal sport only in 2000, featuring four weight categories for men and four for women.   Korean heritage As befits the nation that gave the sport to the world, South Korea was the outstanding country in the inaugu...

Moon Dae-Sung, Republic of Korea (taekwondo), Alexander Popov, Russia (swimming), Claudia Bokel, Germany (fencing), and Yumilka Ruiz–Luaces, Cuba (volleyball), have been elected to the Athletes’ Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by their peers at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games for a term of eight years. During this period, they will also serve as IOC members, brin...

Swimming has been an exciting part of the Beijing Summer Games, but now that it’s over, we’re having withdrawal symptoms. So we tracked down Australian swimmer Eamon Sullivan before he was scheduled to swim his last event - the 4x100 medley relay. In this relay, his team grabbed the silver - second only to the US and Michael Phelps, who won his record-breaking eighth gold medal.  ...

Beijingers practise sport early in the morning. But it is more than just sport - iIt's a philosophy of life. In this video provided by AFPTV, Beijing's elderly have a few words of wisdom for Olympic athletes once they retire: Practise gentle exercise to maintain good health and prolong longevity.     

Huge success for Olympex: the exhibition on Olympic stamps, coins, memorabilia and art has been attended over the last 10 days by more than 100,000 visitors. “We could have sold many more tickets, but for security reasons we had to limit the entrance to 10,000 people per day”, explains Manfred Bergman, the coordinator of the exhibition.  Most prestigious philatelic exhibition ...

The Disciplinary Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has reached a decision in the case of an anti-doping rule violation committed by Ms Fani Chalkia.  Samples provided by Ms Chalkia on the 10th August in Fukui, Japan during a pre-competition doping control test, proved positive for the banned substance Methyltrienolone; a steroid with potentially serious effects on health...

The e-journal “Olympic Express” the IOC is running on www.olympic.org in collaboration with the French number one sports newspaper “L’Équipe”, and its special outlet “L’Équipe junior” for a younger audience, is reaching out to a large world-wide audience that obviously appreciates this special initiative for the Beijing Games. Here are ...

McDonald’s has introduced a new game, but it doesn’t come in your Happy Meal. Since March of this year, the TOP Olympic sponsor has been the force behind the largest alternative-reality game (ARG) and website, The Lost Ring. As this is McDonald’s first venture into the world of ARG, it could make it their biggest undertaking yet. And with the culmination tied to the Summer Games ...

Do you know where past Olympic Games were held? Do you know where future Olympic Games will be held?   In a quiz on the official website of the International Olympic Committee www.olympic.org you can test your knowledge!   What do you have to do?  How can you win? All you need to do is score over 4,000 points in the host city challenge or the national pride game. Once...

Technology: we all use it and need it, but most of us can barely understand it. The technology that is needed to produce the Summer Games is no different, and is more complicated than most of us could ever comprehend. Luckily Beijing has Atos Origin.  200,000 accreditation badges The international information technology services company has been working with the Olympic Games since 1992, and ...

Some of the world’s top athletes and stars of the IOC’s “Heroes” campaign met the IOC President Jacques Rogge today.   Hosting a breakfast in the Athletes’ restaurant in the Olympic Village, the President had the opportunity to thank some of the Olympic legends including Haile Gebrselelassie, Vanessa Ferrari and Carolina Kluft face to face.   The IOC Preside...

 nullLiu Chunhong, China, set five world records on her way to the gold medal in the women’s 69kg weighlifting event yesterday in Beijing. Liu lifted a snatch world record of 128kg on her third attempt. She then set a world record with a total of 286kg with a world record clean and jerk of 158kg.  First woman Women lifters started competing at the Olympic Games only in Sydney in 20...

Germany’s three-day eventing team made it look easy here last Tuesday when they won the first gold medal of the Olympic equestrian events convincingly from runners-up Australia. Germany finished on 166.10 penalty points, ahead of Australia’s 171.20, and Britain’s 185.70. Germany's Hinrich Romeike, on his gelding Marius, clinched the gold for his team as the last of 57 riders to t...

Some 2,203 doping tests have been carried out so far in the framework of the largest ever testing programme for an Olympic Games. The tests include 1,720 urine and 483 blood tests. These tests cover the 18 day-period beginning 27 July 2008 until 13 August 2008. Athletes qualified for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games have been tested by the World AntiDoping Agency and BOCOG under the authority of the...

www.olympic.org meets Alyssa Roenigk, senior writer for ESPN the Magazine   When it comes to big sporting events, ESPN the Magazine senior writer Alyssa Roenigk has been to them all: the Italian Grand Prix, the X Games, the Super Bowl, US Tennis Open and her latest, the Olympic Games. As a journalist, her job requires her to travel the globe and report on the world’s best athletes. Sinc...