Beijing was elected the capital of the XXIX Summer Olympics in 2001 at the IOC session held in Moscow. His competitors for the right to host the Games were Toronto, Paris, Osaka and Istanbul. The Olympics took place in 2008 and became the largest in history.
China approached the preparation and holding of the Olympics with the utmost responsibility. The hosts of the Games surprised everyone not only with the number of gold medals in the overall standings, but also with the excellent organization of the event.
In just a few years, Beijing managed to build 37 grandiose structures that were completely ready to host the games. The main ones are the "Bird's Nest" stadium, "Water Cube", the Olympic Park, the basketball stadium, the National Sports Palace and the Olympic Congress Center. Highways were built and reconstructed, and another terminal of the Beijing International Airport was put into operation.
The opening ceremony of the Games took place on August 8 at the Beijing National Stadium. It was a huge show, which was attended by about 15 thousand people.
More than 11 thousand athletes from 204 countries took part in the games. The largest team was the Chinese national team of 639 athletes. For the first time, the national teams of Montenegro, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands participated in such competitions. The International Committee first banned the participation of the Iraqi national team in the Olympics, but then still allowed four athletes.
The Chinese national team exceeded the plan set by the government. Celestial athletes have collected 51 gold medals, instead of the minimum 45. They are significantly ahead of all their competitors - the teams of the USA, Great Britain and Russia. Team USA finished second with 36 gold, 38 silver and 36 bronze medals. Our country took the honorable third place in the overall team ranking, having won 23 gold medals.
The closing ceremony of the XXIX Olympic Games was held as solemnly as the opening ceremony. The President of the International Olympic Committee made a speech to the applause of one hundred thousand spectators. After that, a parade of all the teams that took part in the Games took place. The show continued with a concert of pop stars, and at the end of the celebration, 7,000 Chinese actors entered the stadium and performed a costume performance. The ceremony ended with a grand fireworks display.
