Olympic torch: Carrying a flame of peace is not that easy

by Jamie Rhein on

Conan O’Brien called the bus that was loaded up with the Olympic torch the burning bus. I think that’s what he said. Whatever it was, it got a chuckle from last night’s audience. He was referring to the news story that the Olympic torch was loaded onto a bus outside Paris because protesters kept trying to put it out all the way from London. The protesters are upset about China’s policies in Tibet and Sudan

I first heard about the torch woes yesterday afternoon from a radio news report. From what I heard, the torch was put out and relit a couple of times. It sure didn’t sound like a movie version of a grand athletic event to me. I’m thinking of the kind of event where the music from “Chariots of Fire” plays and everyone moves in slow motion. There’s hugging and cheering, maybe some tears–that kind of thing. Instead, I have images of pushing, shoving, yelling between those who want to put the torch out and those who don’t. The great commotion between onlookers, police officers and protesters, I imagine, might be giving the people who agreed to carry it pause–as in “What was I thinking?” Think a Shakespeare crowd scene. “Put the torch out!” yells some of the crowd. “Save the torch!” yells the bulk of the crowd. “If it’s put out, what will become of us?” The practical crowd members are the ones who saw the writing on the wall and put it on the bus.

Protesters have already scaled the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to put up Tibetan flags against the torch’s appearance in San Francisco tomorrow. Should be an exciting time to see just how this flame fares.

Considering the Olympic Torch Relay symbolizes world love or some such thing, it’s ironic that it’s the target. Actually, the flame means that people should put down their arms in a sacred truce. The arms means guns, but in this case, perhaps it should mean real arms, as in those things attached to people’s bodies. On the other hand, the protesters are making a point. It certainly makes for a twist on the tale of Olympic glory history.

GADLING TAKE 5: Week of 3-21-2008

by Catherine Bodry on

Did you have a happy St. Patrick’s Day? While I didn’t get in to any shenanigans (for once, it seems), I was able to have a few pints with friends up in Anchorage. Though they weren’t perfectly-poured Guinnesses, they were locally brewed and likely tasted as good as Guinness in Ireland tastes. But there’s plenty of non-St. Paddy’s Day news this week at Gadling:

And here are some more fun posts to set your weekend off right: Aaron’s post on headlines from North Korea still makes me laugh; I’m curiously following the fate of squat toilets in Beijing (because I love squat toilets and think everyone should try them — I know, I’m a freak); and an Australian put his entire life on eBay.

A bathroom problem of “Olympic” proportions

by Jeremy Kressmann on

When I first saw the venue designs for this summer’s Olympic games in Beijing, I was quite impressed. The Chinese have pulled out all the stops to create several cutting-edge stadiums for the games, including the Beijing National Stadium designed by award-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron and the Beijing National Aquatics Center, which looks like a huge floating cube of water.

However, as the BBC reports, China may have spent a little too much money on those architecture fees. Prompted by frequent visitor complaints at test events, the Chinese are scrambling to replace traditional squat toilets at the venues with western-style “loos” for an expected 500,000 visitors. According to the BBC, who quotes Yao Hui, Deputy Head of Venue Management, “Most of the Chinese people are used to the squat toilet, but nowadays more and more people demand sit-down toilets.”

Gee, Yao, do you think? I have no problem adapting to a traditional squat toilet if I’m coming to visit China on my own, but perhaps when you have visitors coming from as many as 200 different nationalities you might want to standardize? I guess if you’re headed to this summer’s games in Beijing, make sure you bring your own toilet paper and maybe take a look at this for advice. Also take a look at this for more “traditional” background info on Beijing before your visit.

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The top 10 World’s Dirtiest Cities:


You’ll never guess what made the list!

Big in Japan: Japan will send 66-yo Olympian to Beijing

by Matthew Firestone on

With the 2008 Beijing Summer Games right around the corner, I think I can safely say that Olympic fever is in the air…

Then again, with China hosting the event for the first time in the history of the games, maybe it’s safe to say that this year’s Olympic fever may be of the viral kind.

Indeed, it’s hard to turn on the news today without hearing about the impending implications of China’s economic and political coming out party.

But then again, it’s not hard to see why, considering that the Chinese government’s efforts to modernize Beijing haven’t exactly been, um, ethical.

Of course, if you consider massive relocation of the poor, strict media censorship and forced labor to be acceptable practices in the Olympic rulebook, then I guess it’s alright!

(There I said it – looks like Gadling will now be banned in China!)

Anyway, with the increased politicization of this year’s Olympic Games, it’s fairly likely that more and more news stories will slip past the Chinese filters.

Even Steven Spielberg jumped on the bandwagon this week, saying that he was boycotting the games in response to the Chinese government’s alliance with Sudan in light of the genocide in Darfur.

Of course, as this is Gadling and not Human Rights Watch, today I will bring you a decidedly happier news story about one of the world’s oldest Olympians.

This week in Tokyo, news agencies announced that Hiroshi Hoketsu, a 66-year-old equestrian rider, will be Japan’s oldest ever Olympic athlete.

Hoketsu, who will actually be turning the young and sprightly age of 67 next month, and will be competing in the team dressage event after a 44-year break from the Games.

(In case you were wondering, dressage, a French term meaning ‘training,’ is a form of equestrian competition that is centered on standardized progressive training methods to develop a horse’s natural athletic ability.)

Back to the story at hand…

Hoketsu was actually a member of Japan’s equestrian team at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, where he finished 40th in show jumping.

(As you’d imagine, dressage is slightly less potentially damaging to the body than show jumping, especially when you’re in your late 60s).

According to Hideki Yamauchi, an official with the Japan Equestrian Federation, “We are very happy he has been named to the team. It’s quite an accomplishment to return to the Olympics after 44 years.”

Prior to Hoketsu, the previous age record for Japan was set by 63 year-old Miss Kikuko Inoue, who also participated in an equestrian event at the 1988 Seoul Games.

Surprisingly however, Japan doesn’t hold the Olympic age record as the oldest ever competitive athlete was Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn, who won a gold medal at the age of 64 in the 1912 Stockholm Games, and then returned eight years later, aged 72, to win a silver in Antwerp, Belgium.

I guess that at 27, there is still time for me to win the gold!

(On a side note, today was my 100th posting for Big in Japan, so thanks to everyone out there for checking out my little column here at Gadling!)

** All images are trademarked by the 2008 Beijing Olympic Committee. Illegal use or infringement of these images will result in horrific violations of your human rights that are so depraved and immoral that I’m not permitted by common decency to mention them here **

Should you bring your own food when visiting China?

by Jerry Guo on

There was a big New York Times story this weekend about the US Olympics delegation’s plan to ship in 25,000 pounds of their own food to Beijing this summer.

Here’s what one caterer for the delegation had to say about an innocent looking piece of chicken he found at an everyday supermarket. “We had it tested and it was so full of steroids that we never could have given it to athletes. They all would have tested positive.” And more:

In recent years, some foods in China have been found to be tainted with insecticides and illegal veterinary drugs, and the standards applied to meat there are lower than those in the United States, raising fears of food-borne illnesses.

If Chinese food isn’t good enough for US athletes, is it good enough for you? I think the surprising answer is no–if you have a sensitive stomach. My girlfriend got deathly sick for a week this past summer from eating a cantaloupe from a street vendor. I had similar problems a couple years back buying octopus from a street vendor. I think it goes to show: stick to actual restaurants.

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