Forward to Beijing! a Guide to the Summer Olympics

by Verner Bickley, N/A Photographs (Illustrator), Gillian Bickley (Editor)

The Summer Olympic Games took place in Beijing from 8-24 August 2008. The Equestrian Events took place in Hong Kong from 9-24 August 2008. The Paralympics Events took place in Hong Kong from 9-12 September 2008. These Games held the attention of a worldwide audience for the duration of the Games, but also immediately before and after each future Olympic Games, wherever they are held, continuing into the future, people will remember the spectacular opening ceremony in Beijing. This book will also serve as a memorial to those games. BUT Forward to Beijing! memorialises previous Games too and is a guide to future games. Forward to A Guide to the Summer Explains for each Olympic the rules; the special terms & vocabulary. impressive Olympiad achievements of the past. fascinating insights into the history of the Games. the Beijing Olympics and events that took place in Hong Kong during the summer of 2008. useful phrases, quizzes & conversational openers for residents and visitors. It A Message from Timothy Fok, SBS, GBS, President of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China; A Preface by The Hon. Dr Arnaldo de Oliveira Sales, GBM, JP, Honorary Life President of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China; A personal essay, A Big Idea; by Chris Wardlaw, Head Coach, Australian Track and Field Team, 2000 Olympic Games LONG DESCRIPTION OF BOOK In August 2008, the twenty-ninth Summer Olympic Games was held in Beijing, The People's Republic of China. This was only the third time ever that this test and celebration of human endeavour has taken place in Asia. Forward to Beijing! A Guide to the Summer Olympics gives a brief history of the Games from their ancient origins in Greece to their revival in 1896. It surveys some of the triumphs enjoyed and difficulties encountered by the Olympic Movement over time and gives some of the highlights of Olympiads held from 1896 to 1984, including details of those athletes who won more than one gold medal each in any single one of these early modern Olympiads. The Games first took place in Asia in 1964, in Tokyo, Japan, returning in 1988, twenty-four years later, this time to Seoul, Korea. Taking 1988 as a starting point, therefore, Forward to Beijing! gives a detailed account of several important aspects of the Olympic Games. Each of the twenty-eight Olympic sports from Aquatics to Wrestling, is described with definitions of some of the special terms used and explanations of the rules that govern these sports, together with their associated disciplines. Here also, for every single Olympic sport, are the names of gold medal winners at these Games, and information about the country they represented. Some Key Words for the discussion of each Olympic Sport are provided. Quizzes serve as a summary of the main points and as conversational openers. Forward to Beijing! records many of the actions that the City of Beijing and the PRC undertook to ensure the success of the 2008 Games. All Olympic cities need to make similar heroic preparations. London (UK) is using its hosting of the Games in 2012 to revitalise and lay the basis for community regeneration in one part of the city. Now that Rio de Janiero (Brazil) will host the 2016 Games, citizens are already hoping for increased security and better transport in their city.

260 pages, Paperback

First published February 29, 2008