71 Beijing Olympics Facts: Trivia For People Aspiring To Be An Athlete

Do you intend to pursue athletics as your career in the future?

Sports is not only about winning the gold, silver, or bronze medals for your home country. A game of basketball teaches team spirit while chess is all about making the correct choices through strong moves.

Among the most awaited important sporting events, the Olympic Games, the Rugby World Cup, and FIFA World Cup are the most popular. The Olympic Games have a special place in the hearts and souls of players and viewers alike.

From the very initiation of the Summer Olympic Games, millions of global spectators were left spellbound by the excellent performance and competitiveness of the participants.

The Summer Olympics of 2008, officially regarded as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, commenced on 8 August and extended until 24 August in China's capital, Beijing, the host city. The Summer Olympics comprised numerous multi-sport events that attracted thousands of competitors from different countries.

If you have some free time in your hands then pump yourself up by reading through these exhilarating Sydney Olympics facts and 2012 Olympics facts.

Fun Facts About The 2008 Beijing Olympics

These fun facts about the 2008 Beijing Olympics are sure to be fascinating for kids.

The Olympic Games of 2008 were hosted by Beijing, China. 204 countries from all over the world showed enthusiastic participation in a variety of gaming events such as gymnastics, swimming, mountain bike, boxing, basketball, baseball, table tennis, volleyball, field hockey, rowing, weightlifting, archery, water polo, and more.

On 8 August, the grand opening ceremony of the Beijing Games kicked off at 8:00 p.m. sharp in the evening as per the China Standard Time. The official opening ceremony was conducted at the Beijing National Stadium and lasted for around four hours with an approximate production cost of more than $100 million.

About 15,000 participants were choreographed by Zhang Jigang and the entire event was co-directed by Zhang Yimou.

This unforgettable ceremony was attended by innumerable eminent personalities among whom were Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and several distinguished leaders from 105 countries. The ceremony was initiated with the drumbeats of the ancient Chinese percussion called 'Fou', exhibiting the richness of Chinese culture and heritage.

The theme song of the 2008 Olympic games was called 'You and Me'. The song was sung by a British singer named Sarah Brightman and singer Liu Huan, representing China.

The composition of the song is credited to Chen Qigang. Li Ning, an ex-Chinese gymnast, made a spectacular aerial display to ignite the cauldron and was the last bearer in the Olympic torch relay. In fact, this was the world's longest Olympic torch relay to be featured on screen.

Countries That Won The Highest Medals In 2008 Olympics

Here's a catalog of the countries that set records by taking away the highest medals in the 2008 Olympics.

The Chinese government took efforts to promote the image of the nation by investing a huge amount in constructing Olympic venues. In Beijing, 31 venues were built and some of the most significant ones include Beijing National Indoor Stadium, the Olympic Green Convention Center, Beijing National Aquatics Center, and others. Some training facilities were also erected.

Did you know that the most populous country in the world won the most Olympic gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics? It was China.

China bagged 100 medals in total with 48 gold medals, 22 silver medals, and 30 bronze medals. The United States of America occupied the second position with 36 golds, 39 silvers, and 37 bronze.

After the Olympics came to a close, the United States of America won the maximum number of silver as well as bronze medals and with a total of 112 medals, it also turned out to be the winner of the highest number of Olympic medals.

Among the participating nations, 87 achieved medals while 54 nations bagged a minimum of one gold, creating world records. Mauritius, Togo, Sudan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan started off by winning their first medals.

Facts About Athletes In The 2008 Olympics

Without the exceptional caliber of the athletes from all over the world, the Olympics would literally lack all its charm.

After contesting with Osaka, Paris, Istanbul, and Toronto, Beijing emerged victorious with majority votes from the members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and was announced as the host city for the 2008 Summer Olympics on 13 July 2001. A total of 10,942 athletes were pitted against each other to make their nations proud.

Among all the participants, 4,637 were women while 6,305 were male competitors.

The Serbian water polo team achieved their first medal and Michael Phelps, an American swimmer, made a world record by taking home eight gold medals. Russia's Elena Dementieva won the Olympic gold medal in women's singles tennis while Dinara Safina grabbed the silver and Vera Zvonareva received the bronze medal.

Other noteworthy athletes to carve their names in history were Usain Bolt and Nastia Liukin.

Facts About Olympic Sports

Let's take a quick look into these fascinating facts about Olympic sports held in Beijing, China.

The official logo was designed by graphic artist, Guo Chunning. The logo, tagged 'Dancing Beijing', displayed the Chinese character 'jīng' that translates to 'capital'.

It was shaped in the form of a human body to represent the host city.

The Olympic slogan or motto for the 2008 Beijing Games was, 'One World, One Dream' and it was chosen from more than 210,000 entries that poured in from across the globe. The motto aimed to unify the sportsman spirit of all the participating nations to promote humanity, cooperation, and understanding of each other.

The event was unique because of its organization and for the fact that 40 world records and 130 Olympic records were smashed and new records were created.

Interestingly, the Olympic flame plays a significant role in the Olympic games by imparting a crucial message to the world. It conveys the message of humanity, friendship, and peace as runners travel through distinct paths.

The flame symbolizes the positive values that have been handed down through generations. The 2008 Olympic torch was the manifestation of ancient Chinese art commonly called the 'Lucky Clouds'.

The unique design of the torch enabled it to stay ablaze even in conditions of rain of about 1.97 in (50 mm) and wind of 40.39 mph (65 kph). On 24 March, the relay started in Olympia, a small town located in Greece, and ultimately arrived in Beijing, China on 31 March.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 71 Beijing Olympics facts: trivia for people aspiring to be an athlete then why not take a look at 1896 Olympics facts, or winter Olympics facts.