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Greece in Beijing 2008


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The HOC President Mr Minos Kyriakou is visiting Beijing after an invitation by the President of the Organizing Committee for the XXVIIII Olympic Games and Mayor of the Chinese capital Mr Liu Chi. Mr Kyriakou is having bilateral meetings regarding the organizationg of the XXVIIII Olympic Games, the Olympic Torch Relay, the ceremonies of the Games, the cultural cooperation and the stay of the Hellenic Olympic Team in China during the Games.

On his first day in Beijing, Mr Kyriakou met Mrs Ming Jang, high-ranking official of the Organizing Committee and responsible of the Ceremonies, the Torch Relay and Culture. Main subject of their discussion was programming of the Lighting and Handing-Over Ceremony of the Olympic Flame, the Greek and International Torch Relay, and the participation-promotion of Greece during the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as the birth-country of the Olympic Games, the Olympic Flame but also as a previous host country.

“Knowing your country very well. I have no doubt for your success. We have so much in common, especially history, civilization and tradition and we will be on your side in every aspect of your preparation. We, Greeks, emphasize the contribution of the Olympic Flame to the world, we are very intense with the issue of the Olympic Torch Relay and wish the Olympic Light and Spirit is respected by everyone in Greece as well as abroad. We have a vision for the international role of the Flame and remain guardians of the Olympic Ideals” said Mr Kyriakou.

“BEIJING 2008” informed the greek party that the International Torch Relay will last 137 days, starting from the end of March 2008. The Flame will cross the 5 continents and go through 28 cities of the planet. In China the Torch Relay will last 100 days and the Olympic Light will be carried in all 34 provinces of the country.

The HOC President asked from the Chinese organizers to include a special reference to Greece during the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and his request was immediately accepted. “The country that gave birth and revived the Olympic Games should have a special place during the Olympic Celebration” said Mr Kyriakou.

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my first  impression is that the 28 cities will be all the previous host cities and selected cities from Africa and South America to make up the numbers that come from all previous hosts that have held the games twice????????

or then again i may be wayyyyyyyyy on the wron tracks.....LOL

No, no -- I think you're absolutely right.

I'd guess that the following cities will be the international torch relay stops:

1. Athens (1896, 2004)

2. Rome (1960)

3. Barcelona (1992)

4. Lausanne (IOC headquarters)

5. Paris (1900, 1924)

6. London (1908, 1948, 2012)

7. Brussels (EU headquarters)

8. Antwerp (1920)

9. Amsterdam (1928)

10. Munich (1972)

11. Berlin (1936)

12. Stockholm (1912)

13. Helsinki (1952)

14. Moscow (1980)

15. Cairo (as 1st African stop)

16. Cape Town (as 2nd African stop)

17. New York (UN headquarters)

18. Montreal (1976)

19. Atlanta (1996)

20. St. Louis (1904)

21. Los Angeles (1932, 1984)

22. Mexico City (1968)

23. Rio de Janeiro (as 1st South American stop)

24. Buenos Aires (as 2nd South American stop)

25. Sydney (2000)

26. Melbourne (1956)

27. Tokyo (1964)

28. Seoul (1988)

So I think it will be almost the same choice of cities as for the 2004 relay.

I'm a little bit torn whether it's a good idea to repeat Athens' global torch relay or not. On the one side, it's a brilliant idea to incorporate the whole world in every torch relay since it's the best expression of the global Olympic ideal. But on the other side, I'm afraid that it will get boring soon if always the same international cities are to host the torch relay every four years. Additionally, I think that it was a very appropriate idea for Athens to stage a global relay -- since Greece was the country which gave birth to Olympism and therefore plays a very special role for the whole world of sports. But I doubt that it's appropriate if every other Olympic host city copies that unique concept.

And I'm not sure whether it's a good idea to grant Greece whole segments of the opening and closing ceremony. Greece always has a special place at those ceremonies -- at the opening ceremony, its athletes march in first and at the closing ceremony, its flag is hoisted and its anthem is played. 2008 is no round anniversary for the birth of the Games so that I don't know the necessity for an additional special representation of Greece in both ceremonies. Furthermore, I have those awfully kitschy chariots and tunicas in my mind with which Moscow 1980 wanted to give a reference to Greece. I fear that, in Beijing and thus in another communist country, such exaggerated pomp could be repeated.

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ohh thank you PYRROS2004,

By now i haven't know the information about the relay.

But i just wander if Beijing Olympic flame will go to Iraq and Iran and Nepol.

Because when Beijing bid 2008,in the bid book ,there was a plan of the torch relay.Beijing hope that the Olympic flame would go to the oldest 4 civilization empires.And Iran and Iraq were the civilization of Persia.

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  • 4 weeks later...
my first  impression is that the 28 cities will be all the previous host cities and selected cities from Africa and South America to make up the numbers that come from all previous hosts that have held the games twice????????

or then again i may be wayyyyyyyyy on the wron tracks.....LOL

No, no -- I think you're absolutely right.

I'd guess that the following cities will be the international torch relay stops:

1. Athens (1896, 2004)

2. Rome (1960)

3. Barcelona (1992)

4. Lausanne (IOC headquarters)

5. Paris (1900, 1924)

6. London (1908, 1948, 2012)

7. Brussels (EU headquarters)

8. Antwerp (1920)

9. Amsterdam (1928)

10. Munich (1972)

11. Berlin (1936)

12. Stockholm (1912)

13. Helsinki (1952)

14. Moscow (1980)

15. Cairo (as 1st African stop)

16. Cape Town (as 2nd African stop)

17. New York (UN headquarters)

18. Montreal (1976)

19. Atlanta (1996)

20. St. Louis (1904)

21. Los Angeles (1932, 1984)

22. Mexico City (1968)

23. Rio de Janeiro (as 1st South American stop)

24. Buenos Aires (as 2nd South American stop)

25. Sydney (2000)

26. Melbourne (1956)

27. Tokyo (1964)

28. Seoul (1988)

So I think it will be almost the same choice of cities as for the 2004 relay.

I'm a little bit torn whether it's a good idea to repeat Athens' global torch relay or not. On the one side, it's a brilliant idea to incorporate the whole world in every torch relay since it's the best expression of the global Olympic ideal. But on the other side, I'm afraid that it will get boring soon if always the same international cities are to host the torch relay every four years. Additionally, I think that it was a very appropriate idea for Athens to stage a global relay -- since Greece was the country which gave birth to Olympism and therefore plays a very special role for the whole world of sports. But I doubt that it's appropriate if every other Olympic host city copies that unique concept.

And I'm not sure whether it's a good idea to grant Greece whole segments of the opening and closing ceremony. Greece always has a special place at those ceremonies -- at the opening ceremony, its athletes march in first and at the closing ceremony, its flag is hoisted and its anthem is played. 2008 is no round anniversary for the birth of the Games so that I don't know the necessity for an additional special representation of Greece in both ceremonies. Furthermore, I have those awfully kitschy chariots and tunicas in my mind with which Moscow 1980 wanted to give a reference to Greece. I fear that, in Beijing and thus in another communist country, such exaggerated pomp could be repeated.

What about 2016 shortlisted candidate cities? Remember that in 2004 the torch relay passed by London, Paris, Moscow (all three previous olympic host cities), NYC (because UN headquarters), but also by Madrid (the fifth candidate city for 2012).

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almost arrogant to ask beijing to include a segment relating to greece...seriously athens just hosted the games ...and he games are now about beijing essentially the core of the games will always belong to greece but the point of moving it around the world is so that it can be about other great cities ..so that the world can learn about new cities and cultures and art forms and means of expression through their opening ceremonies...
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Is this official ?

I am very surprised because after the 2004 Torch Relay i heard from IOC's Head Quater that the International Torch Relay was not a soo good idea and very complicated to organized !

Also, most of the city who welcome the flame were not very happy.... because of all the costs they should have to support and the very controled communication they could realise....

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I think it is more of a suggestion than anything. To do something like the Athens 2004 Olympic torch relay again for Beijing 2008 would not be appealing to me this time.
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  • 2 weeks later...
<font color='#000000'>I think it is more of a suggestion than anything. To do something like the Athens 2004 Olympic torch relay again for Beijing 2008 would not be appealing to me this time.</font>

yea i agree, been there done that lol

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I believe the foreign legs of Beijing's Torch Relay will involve the Chinese communities there, if there are significant Chinese communities. My contact at Beijing's Ceremonies Dept. insinuated that the Chinese Diaspora would be a theme of the foreign part of the Torch Relay. They have mentioned Taiwan so far. So maybe, Vancouver, San Francisco and New York will be included this time. I think Cape Town has a Chinatown and I know Lima, Peru has a considerable Chinese-Japanese community. (Why, even Havana had one in pre-Castro days! They all fled to NYC when Castro took power!)

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I believe the foreign legs of Beijing's Torch Relay will involve the Chinese communities there, if there are significant Chinese communities. My contact at Beijing's Ceremonies Dept. insinuated that the Chinese Diaspora would be a theme of the foreign part of the Torch Relay. They have mentioned Taiwan so far. So maybe, Vancouver, San Francisco and New York will be included this time. I think Cape Town has a Chinatown and I know Lima, Peru has a considerable Chinese-Japanese community. (Why, even Havana had one in pre-Castro days! They all fled to NYC when Castro took power!)

umm interesting, thanks for the tip

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hmmmm I don't know...I mean I love the idea of the global torch relay...but it was just done, and seemed more relevant and approrpriate for Athens to do it over any other city, because it was meant to welcome the world back to birthplace of the Olympic Games....I mean what would Beijing or really any other city/nations reason/theme be if they held such a relay....I think for China and the surronding region (which is diverse, has many landmarks, and is beautiful) it would be better if it just stayed in their neck of the woods this time around.....

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hmmmm I don't know...I mean I love the idea of the global torch relay...but it was just done, and seemed more relevant and approrpriate for Athens to do it over any other city, because it was meant to welcome the world back to birthplace of the Olympic Games....I mean what would Beijing or really any other city/nations reason/theme be if they held such a relay....I think for China and the surronding region (which is diverse, has many landmarks, and is beautiful) it would be better if it just stayed in their neck of the woods this time around.....

yea an asian torch relay would be great

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Ladies and Gentle men" I have recived a letter from Bejjing Olympic committee that they have selected my torch design proposal for next round.

I am too happy, it is an honour or me that they have selected my design for next round, I hope that may be I will make the name of country bright on global scale.

Thanks for supporting me morally.

RECAPE:

I have applied for Olympic torch design compitition and my design consist of a torch made up of glass representing a roll of a paper containg a message of pece and freedom for the citizens of the world.

I am espacially thankful to NYKFAN845

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Hint: it is from world history that connected China to the outside world.

The Silk Road. That is a good idea actually, but is the IOC willing to travel through some og the Middle Eastern countries? That part is a bit dodgey.

Ladies and Gentle men" I have recived a letter from Bejjing Olympic committee that they have selected my torch design proposal for next round.

I am too happy, it is an honour or me that they have selected my design for next round, I hope that may be I will make the name of country bright on global scale.

Thanks for supporting me morally.

RECAPE:

I have applied for Olympic torch design compitition and my design consist of a torch made up of glass representing a roll of a paper containg a message of pece and freedom for the citizens of the world.

I am espacially thankful to NYKFAN845

Thanks, Zain, but you did all the hard work and effort. I am just rooting on the sidelines :lol:

Anyway, good luck on the next round, and we're wishing you'll do well.

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Ladies and Gentle men" I have recived a letter from Bejjing Olympic committee that they have selected my torch design proposal for next round.

I am too happy, it is an honour or me that they have selected my design for next round, I hope that may be I will make the name of country bright on global scale.

Thanks for supporting me morally.

RECAPE:

I have applied for Olympic torch design compitition and my design consist of a torch made up of glass representing a roll of a paper containg a message of pece and freedom for the citizens of the world.

I am espacially thankful to NYKFAN845

congratulations and good luck!!!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mo,

Every games has a segment relating to Greece during its opening and closing ceremony.

Beijing shouldn't be different.

<font color='#000080'>almost arrogant to ask beijing to include a segment relating to greece...seriously athens just hosted the games ...and he games are now about beijing essentially the core of the games will always belong to greece but the point of moving it around the world is so that it can be about other great cities ..so that the world can learn about new cities and cultures and art forms and means of expression through their opening ceremonies...</font>
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