Closing Ceremonies Bring Olympics to an End

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The 2008 Summer Olympics closed last night in a display of tightly scripted merriment and lavish fireworks, a final burst of pomp ending 17 days of sports and celebration that Chinese authorities organized with flawless precision and an unbending security clampdown.

Over two hours, Chinese organizers dazzled the 90,000 in attendance at the National Stadium. Placido Domingo sang a duet with Song Zuying, a favorite songbird of Communist Party elders; acrobats bounced about on pogo sticks; drums and drummers floated through the air, and a joyful parade of athletes waved flags from around the world.

In its scope and its splendor, the pageant proved yet again that China’s Communist Party, while clinging to its Leninist political system, has accumulated the wealth and know-how to pull off a glittering Olympics worthy of a world power. The nation also showed itself able to field a team of impressive athletes, who walked away with 51 gold medals, more than the contingent from any other country.

CHINA RELEASES 8 AMERICAN PROTESTERS

China released eight American protesters from jail and put them on a plane for Los Angeles last night as the Beijing Olympics closed in a rousing ceremony at the Bird’s Nest national stadium, an advocacy group said. Top diplomats at the American and British embassies earlier in the day had pressed for the immediate release of 10 foreigners, including the eight Americans plus a Briton and a German citizen of Tibetan origin. All had been sentenced to 10 days of detention after police swarmed their unauthorized pro-Tibet demonstrations last week. Forty-eight other foreign protesters detained by Chinese authorities during the Games were immediately deported.

The Briton was still being held, but was expected to be deported this morning, a source said. The fate of the German was unclear, but he was also expected to be released.

LONDON PREPARES FOR 2012 OLYMPICS

Team GB’S preparations for London 2012 will start immediately, according to Lord Moynihan, the chairman of the British Olympic Association.

Basking in the glory of Britain’s finest performance at the Olympics since the much-smaller Games were staged in London in 1908, Lord Moynihan said: “Not a day can be lost because the work starts tomorrow.”

There will be time for reflection and even an open-topped bus parade through London to celebrate Britain’s fourth-place finish in Beijing, but Lord Moynihan stressed the need to build on the success that was achieved ahead of schedule.

He added: “Sport has become the unending, unremitting search for perfection and never before have I seen so many silver medallists gutted at not winning gold.

IOC: CHINESE GYMNASTS’ PAPERWORK SEEMS IN ORDER

The investigation goes on, so does the wait, yet the IOC indicated yesterday that a reshuffling of Olympic gymnastics medals isn’t likely.

Yes, this competition really was and probably will remain … one for the ages.

The International Olympic Committee president, Jacques Rogge, said paperwork appears to support what China has been saying all along: that all six members of its gold medal women’s gymnastics team were old enough to compete at the Beijing Games. Gymnastics officials were still poring over the documents submitted by the Chinese in response to a request for more information on the birthdates of He Kexin, Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan, Deng Linlin, and Li Shanshan.

“The international federation has required the delivery of birth certificates and all the documents like family books, entries in schools and things like that,” Mr. Rogge said. “They have received the documents, and at first sight it seems to be okay.”

NBC SAYS AMERICANS LOST SLEEP DURING OLYMPICS

NBC says the Beijing Olympics proved so captivating that millions of Americans now need to catch up on some sleep. A survey of people who followed the Olympics found that 76 percent said they stayed up later than normal to watch, NBC said yesterday. More than half of its specially convened panel said they got fewer hours of sleep.


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