The Olympic Games are soon coming to an end. This is the third time the Olympic games are arranged in London. Four years ago the games were taking place in Beijing and the main arena was the Bird´s Nest, a building with many innovative and special features.
The Bird´s Nest, The Olympic arena in Beijing
Stockholm 1912 Olympic Games
Sweden has only hosted the Olympic games once, it was the Summer games in Stockholm 1912, exactly one hundred years ago. Stockholm was by then the only bidder for the games! At that time there were 28 countries and 2,408 athletes competing, but only 48 women (!). In the 2012 Olympic Games there has been 10 960 participants from 205 countries, 6098 men and 4862 women. Clearly a progress, not the least for the women! In the 1912 Olympics it was the first time an Asian nation participated, which was Japan. And it was the last time when winners actually got medals of solid gold. Believe it or not, in the 1912 Olympic Games Sweden won the most medals overall, 65 in total (source Wikipedia).
The time zone difference
Karin: When the Olympic Games were in Beijing the Swedes had to get up early to follow some of the competitions. This time we can comfortably follow the many activities during daytime or evenings, since there is only one hour time difference to UK. But people in China have to follow the games during late evenings and nights which makes it harder. Are you following the games Jie? Is it common for people in China to stay up at night and watch it? Is it a big thing people are talking about?
Jie: Chinese are crazy for the Olympic Games, especially since this is the first games right after the Beijing Olympics, so people are comparing the two. And the Olympic experience is special for Chinese, because due to the time zone difference we have had to stay up late to see the games held in Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Athens and now London. When the games were held in Tokyo or Seoul, television were not yet a popular thing in China.
The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London
Karin: I watched the opening ceremony on TV. Although it was quite a long ceremony, it was interesting and the arrangement with the flame was really spectacular. The end with Paul Mc Cartney and the whole audience of 80 000 people singing “Hey Jude” together was also really special. But I was a bit surprised when I read in the paper that the opening ceremony was not sent directly in US. It is supposed to be a moment when everyone around the globe can watch the same thing on TV at the same time. A special uniting moment! Did you see it Jie? What did you think about it?
Jie: People do compare a lot here. Most of us think both are great because they both reflect the two different cultures. We can not tell which is better than the other. But according to what I’ve heard, many Chinese young people prefer the London Ceremony.
National hopes for medals
China has so far won over 70 medals in the 2012 Olympic Games, leading the medal league in numbers, tightly followed by US. Sweden has so far 7 medals. The Swedish television made another list, with the number of medals per capita. And then the list looked completely different, with Grenada (100 000 inhabitants and one gold medal) as nr 1, New Zeeland as nr 2 (9 gold medals) and then Slovenia, Estonia and Jamaica. Both China and US were far down at that list.
Karin: The hopes for medals in the games have gone up and down in Sweden, mostly down actually. People here, and the newspapers not the least, get very disappointed when the expectations for medals are not materialized. Sometimes I feel sorry for the athletes who have this heavy burden on their shoulders to fulfill hopes and dreams of a whole nation!
Jie: For China the Olympic Games has in recent years led to an intense development in sport achievements. But there are also many voices against the medal-oriented attitude, and a reflection about ‘we’ve wasted too much money on the Games’.
Karin: I feel so sorry for Liu Xiang, the world-class Chinese hurdler who won the gold medal in the Olympic games in Athens 2004, the first Chinese medal in a men’s track and field competition. He missed the Olympic Games in Beijing due to injury and now in the London Olympic games he fell already on the first hurdle, it seemed to be due to an injury in the leg. It was terrible to see so much hope fall to the ground! I think the whole world was feeling with him then!
Jie: Yes, I am also sad about Liu Xiang. In my opinion, he’s such a legend and not only a supreme athlete, but also a mirror of our society. He’s taken too much pressure, too much love and hate of this nation. I was shocked to see that some Chinese netizens hate him (yes, hate!). They have said terrible things on the internet and think he was faking. But I trust him and I sincerely hope he can get well soon, and be a happy athlete as he used to be 8 years ago.
Karin: There is a thin line between being a hero and being a hate object! We should be reminded by the Olympic creed saying: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well. “ (Source Wikipedia). In a Swedish TV-programme with former sport heroes, one of them said: People tend to see only the few times we have won, but there are far more times we haven´t succeeded in competitions!
Jie&Karin
Swedish eyes, Chinese mind 