Beijing triumphs

Symbolically and literally on its Olympic bid

When Beijing was awarded the 2008 Olympic Games, fireworks lit up the sky in the world’s most populous nation. China’s bid was successful despite worldwide opposition to its human rights record — a state of affairs that didn’t improve when a foreign journalist was manhandled when a Three Tenors Concert was held in Beijing in June. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) didn’t appear to give weightage to such political factors in voting by a 2:1 margin in that city’s favour. Clearly there is an expectation that the 2008 Games will make China a more open society, although there is much scepticism that its regime will get less repressive. The point to note is that the 1988 Seoul Olympics did contribute to South Korea’s transition to democracy. This might happen in China as well. After a 20-year gap, the Games will be now held in a developing economy. A 20-year gap also separates the Seoul and Mexican Olympiad. It bears mention that such countries have steadily moved up the ladder of development since then. China’s economic future is similarly bound to be irreversibly altered after it hosts the 2008 Games.

Before Beijing won, there was understandable apprehension in China that it might be denied its second bid to stage the Games. It lost out to Sydney to host the 2000 Olympiad by just two votes. But this time, China’s capital edged out rivals like Toronto, Paris, Istanbul and Osaka by a comfortable margin. While most accepted the IOC’s verdict sportingly, the French proved to be bad losers. The fight to stage the Games is a bitter one as megabucks are involved. The Chinese learnt their lessons well as they hired the most savvy public relations outfits to bid for the 2008 Games. Not so long ago, its officials even offered a western oil major the contract for a major pipeline project if China was awarded the Games! This only demonstrates the eagerness of not just China but other countries as well to host the Games at all costs. But all of this is a far cry from the French denouncing the outgoing IOC’s chairman, Mr Juan Antonio Samaranch, as transforming the Games into a “multinational firm given up to mercantilism, giganticism and corruption”! Mr Samaranch might prefer to be remembered more as one who ensured that justice was finally done to Beijing’s bid.