大象传媒

Sacred ceremony ends Beijing Games

• James Reynolds
• 24 Aug 08, 05:30 PM GMT

It's over.

In a state which has no God, the Olympics has been a religion - together with its own cathedrals, rituals, and sacred flames. Everyone in China was meant to be a worshipper. If you didn't believe in the Games, you were dismissed as a heretic.

It all ended tonight with a suitably sacred ceremony in the Bird's Nest Stadium. Our camera position was a few metres away from the VIP section. China's leaders sat in the front row with the IOC President Jacques Rogge. On each of their desks was a pair of binoculars and also a pen and paper (just in case any of them suddenly felt moved to write a speech).

The King and Queen of Sweden sat a bit further back - democratically wearing their official Olympic accreditation round their necks.

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown was tucked back in the fifth row, next to China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (a man who's clearly been on put on foreign leader duty - Mr Jiechi sat next to President Bush during the basketball).

London's mayor, Boris Johnson, looked a little out of place amid the crisp, well-tailored Chinese officials around him. He walked onto the stage, semi-saluting as he went (correct protocol seemed to call for a more subdued royal wave instead).

He then took part in a rather solemn three-way Olympic flag waving contest. The mayor of Beijing went first and managed to get the flag slightly tangled up. He handed it to Jacques Rogge, who waved it and semi-untangled it. Boris Johnson tried not to get swallowed by the flag. He eventually got it right and waved away.

London then began its eight-minute show. The biggest cheer of the entire night came when David Beckham rose up from the 2012 bus (if ever China decides to hold elections, Beckham might have a reasonable chance of getting a seat on the Chinese Politburo).

Then came the final moment of a decade of work. The Olympic flame (always known here as the "sacred flame") was put out.

A billion people will now have to find something else to believe in.

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When losing becomes a national tragedy

• James Reynolds
• 24 Aug 08, 08:21 AM GMT

China's Olympic team has done so well that it's beginning to suffer from the Brazil football team syndrome. When you expect to win every time you turn up, it becomes a national tragedy when you happen to lose (parliamentary inquiries, coroners' inquests, calls for the immediate exile of the coach, etc).

The Chinese diver Zhou Luxin was expected to win a gold medal in the men's 10m diving on Saturday night. A victory for him would have given China all eight gold medals in the diving at the Beijing Games.

But Zhou came second. Not a good move.

An interviewer from Chinese state TV asked Zhou why he hadn't performed well enough. Commentators said his failure had cost China its chance at perfection.

I've just had a look at some comments on Chinese online chat rooms (we've translated them into English)...

"Very disappointed! Everyone expected Zhou to get the 50th gold. But he lost, he is the criminal of our country. We lost the most important gold medal in men's diving event. It is a huge shame, Zhou Jiehong, the team leader of China's diving team, should quit her post!"

"What Zhou lost is not a gold medal. He disappointed the hopes of the entire country. Hosting the Olympics is the dream of several generations."

Some are more sympathetic ...

"Every Chinese athlete knows how important the Beijing Olympics is, and they have much more pressure than the foreign athletes. Zhou is still young and has lots of chances. It is okay not to win a gold at this Olympics. He has done really well. The failure can get him to work harder in the future."

"Those people criticising our athletes are so bad in their attitude! Is it necessary for them to do that? Why should our athletes be regarded as medal machines? If they can't get gold medals, they will be criticised, if they get golds, everybody says loving words. These people are so nasty!"

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