Sport is becoming more and more part of our life; a lot of money is being invested in it. Most people watch a sport, and someone even practices for themselves or professionally. Nevertheless, sport is a good entertainment and a sure path to a healthy body. When the Olympiad begins, probably everyone in the world watches the competitions and is actively rooting for their country. In this article we will talk about the incredible Olympics in China and the main Beijing National Stadium. How much money and effort was spent on its construction? What to expect from the 2022 Olympics?
Beijing Olympics
Beijing is one of the largest and most beautiful cities in Asia, so it certainly can and should host the Olympic Games to introduce the whole world to Chinese culture. The Summer Games were already held in Beijing in 2008, and the Winter Olympics will be held in 2022, the main stadium of which will be the Beijing National Stadium.
2008 Olympic Games
It was in Beijing that the XXIX Summer Olympiad was held in 2008 from August 8 to 24. The Olympics began at 8 o’clock, 8 minutes and 8 seconds in August (8 month), since the number 8 is lucky for Chinese culture. The discovery was interesting. The organizers conveyed the atmosphere and culture of not only modern China, but also its past.
The number of participating countries was 205, and the number of athletes exceeded 10 thousand. And 302 sets of medals were played. The Olympiad presented more than 30 sports. China won the game with 98 medals. The Chinese team overtook the US national team in gold medals and came out on top. The USA took the second place with 111 medals. Russia became the third with 59 medals.
The Beijing Olympic Games were the first to be fully broadcast in excellent quality. More than 4.5 billion people around the world watched the competition on television. Also, at the time of the games, the Internet in China became free, and residents could easily visit the World Wide Web sites.
Olympics in 2022
And in 2022, the XXIV Olympic Games will also be held in Beijing from February 4 to 20. Beijing was one of the very first cities to apply for this event. For a long time, the Chinese capital fought with Alma-Ata for the right to become an organizer. As a result, Beijing overtook the Kazakh capital by only 4 points.
More than 90 countries will participate, and the total number of athletes will exceed 3,000.
Beijing will be the first city to host both summer and winter games. Due to the fact that Olympic facilities require huge costs, summer stadiums will most likely be reconstructed instead of building new ones. The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at the national stadium of the capital, which was called "Bird's Nest".
Also, for the first time in the history of the competition, anti-smoking policies will be held. It will be forbidden to smoke at the Olympic venues, as well as to sell tobacco products, it is forbidden to smoke in bars and cafes located in the zone of the Olympic village. Organizers plan to create more and more non-smoking areas.
Beijing Olympic Stadium
The main stadium of the Chinese capital received its name because of its shape, which resembles a nest of a huge bird. A lot of time and materials were spent on the construction of the Bird's Nest sports facility. More than 14,000 plates, many columns (each weighing more than 1,000 tons), and in order to support the columns, they came up with anchor fasteners (their total weight was 2400 tons), and this is only the external structure. Moreover, it was planned to cover the Beijing National Stadium with a movable roof, but there were not enough steel reserves on the world market. They wanted to abandon this idea, but Chinese scientists have developed their own steel, which is much lighter and stronger than ordinary. The mass of the roof is more than 11 thousand tons.
Beijing National Stadium was opened in March 2008. It was built specifically for the opening of the Summer Olympics, and there will be held the ceremony of the winter games of 2022. The capacity of the stadium is 80 thousand seats, which makes it one of the largest in the world (one of the 20 most capacious stadiums). Additional places were added at the Olympics, so the capacity for the games was 91 thousand places.
3.5 billion yuan (11 billion rubles) was spent on the construction, and it began back in 2003, but due to unforeseen circumstances and the crash, the stadium was completed only in 2008.
The stadium also hosts football matches. For example, in 2009, 2011 and 2012, the Italian Football Super Cup matches were held there. And for the Chinese national football team, he is home.
Conclusion
Beijing is a wonderful and wonderful city, combining the traditions of old China and the culture of modern times. Any traveler who visited Beijing will be able to plunge into the atmosphere of real China. And the Olympic Games are a time for the whole world to forget about wars and unite. There are many Olympic buildings in Beijing, striking in their architecture and impressive size. The Bird's Nest Stadium is one of the most beautiful, large and unusual buildings in the world.