Three weeks away from the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing and the other co-organizing Chinese cities are wrapping up the final preparations for their Olympic facilities. The 29^th Olympiad will also be the last chance to see some sports showcased.

For Beijing Olympic Games, being held from the 8^th to the 24^th of August, Beijing has readied 31 Olympic venues in total including 12 new facilities. These include among others the National Stadium or "Bird's Nest", the Swimming Centre or "Water Cube", the Laoshan velodrome and the Beijing Gymnasium of Science and Technology.

The Workers' Stadium, the Beijing firing range, the Olympic Sports Center Stadium and the Beijing Sports Palace are part of 11 facilities specially renovated for the Olympics.

Finally eight Beijing facilities will disappear after the Olympics including the field hockey field of the Beijing Olympic Park, the Fencing Pavilion at the National Congress Centre and Chaoyang Park's beach volleyball court.

The host cities of the Beijing Olympics

Besides Beijing, six other Chinese cities will co-organize the 2008 Olympic Games.

Qingdao: this north-east port city will host the sailing events of the Olympic and the 2008 Paralympics.

Hong Kong: the island, returned to China in 1997, will host the equestrian competitions.

Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang and Qinghuangdao: Tianjin, Shenyang and Qinghuangdao, three cities in north-east China, will host football matches, just like the southern metropolis. The Chinese are eagerly awaiting the China vs. Brazil match.

The changes in sports

2008 saw the emergence of two new events in cycling and swimming: BMX and the swimming marathon.

The BMX became an officially recognized sport by the International Cycling Union (UCI) in 1993, before becoming an Olympic sport in 2003. It was not until 2007 that the first BMX track in Olympic history was built at the Laoshan Velodrome, just west of Beijing. Eight months were needed to build this site, which covers almost two acres. It will host both the men's and women's events.

The swimming marathon consists of a 10km swim, for both men and women. These competitions will be held at the Olympic Aquatic Park in Shunyi. Canoeing and rowing will also be hosted there.

Other changes include the way ping pong will be played. Pingpong teams will compete against each other rather than have doubles during the Olympics.

In fencing, sabre and women's foil made their big comeback this year and will also be played in teams. Women's sabre became an official Olympic sport in 2004, but it was practiced only individually. The same year, the women's foil team event disappeared.

Finally, after the Beijing Olympics, baseball and softball will disappear from the official Olympic list. The next Olympics will only have 26 sports.

Text: Aurélie Palancher
Photos: Wang Zhuo and official website of Beijing Olympics
July 20008