2008 Summer Games
           School Year Starts with Olympic Distraction

by Emma Beat

Summer 2008 offered athletic competition that only the Olympics can bring. As students returned to the classroom, for many, the need to establish a good school year routine of doing homework and getting to bed early was damaged by a national desire – the desire to watch elite U.S. athletes compete against world competition. Yet what teacher can fault them? Who wasn’t dazzled by Michael Phelps daunting wins, or by Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor’s second Olympic gold on the beach volleyball court? Or how about other countries, such as Jamaica’s Usain Bolt’s seemingly effortless 9.69 seconds in the 100 meter dash and then a second victory in the 200 meter dash in 19.30 seconds?

Even with all the positives that came from the games, there were also many controversies about the 2008 Olympics being held in Beijing. One of them was the doubt that they would be successful because of China’s communist government. Though these doubts definitely have grounds, the government did not really affect the games’ progression. There were only a handful of people not allowed into China. One of these people was Joey Cheek, a 2006 Winter Olympic Champion, because of his political activism against the oppression in Darfur. Another cause for concern were all the people that were used in the grand scale opening and closing ceremonies. Though nothing has been proven to promote this theory, there was skepticism that all of these people performed willingly.

Yet another controversy from China was their under age gymnasts. In Beijing only two gymnasts were suspected to be underage, the girls Jiang Yuyuan and He Kexin. Although they are both reportedly 16, they might be as young as 14. While China had its problems, there were other countries that posed issues. For one, Russia invaded Georgia during the games. The world wondered if we would be looking at another blood bath as in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics Water Polo final between Hungary and the USSR. Fortunately, though, no such thing happened. Overall the 2008 Beijing Olympics went over without a (major) hitch.