17 Facts About Beijing 2008

The Beijing 2008 Games set numerous world and Olympic records, and were the most expensive Summer Olympics of all time, and the second most expensive overall, after the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

Beijing 2008 hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics, making it the first city ever to host both the Summer and Winter Games.

Under the direction of Liu Qi, Beijing was elected as the host city for the 2008 Summer Olympics on 13 July 2001, during the 112th IOC Session in Moscow, defeating bids from Toronto, Paris, Istanbul, and Osaka.

Eight years earlier, Beijing 2008 had led every round of voting for the 2000 Summer Olympics before losing to Sydney by two votes in the final round.

Beijing 2008's airport underwent a major renovation with the addition of the new Terminal 3, designed by architect Norman Foster.

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Mascots of Beijing 2008 were the five Fuwa, each of which represented both a color of the Olympic rings and a symbol of Chinese culture.

In 2006, the Beijing 2008 Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games released pictograms of 35 Olympic disciplines.

Beijing 2008 Games were the first to be produced and broadcast entirely in high definition by the host broadcaster.

In March Beijing 2008, China banned mountaineers from climbing its side of Mount Everest, and later persuaded the Nepalese government to close their side as well, officially citing environmental concerns.

The official song of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, titled "You and Me, " was performed by Britain's Sarah Brightman and China's Liu Huan, on a large spinning rendition of the globe.

Program for the Beijing 2008 Games was quite similar to that of the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens.

Guo Jinlong, the Mayor of Beijing 2008 handed over the Olympic flag to the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, followed by a performance organized by London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

All but one of the 205 recognized National Olympic Committees that existed as of Beijing 2008 participated in the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, the exception being Brunei.

Marshall Islands and Tuvalu gained National Olympic Committee status in 2006 and 2007 respectively, and Beijing 2008 was the first Games in which they were eligible to participate.

Beijing 2008 was able to compete in the Olympics rather than the Paralympics because she does not use a prosthetic leg while swimming.

Collectively, the Beijing 2008 Olympics are associated with a variety of problematic topics: the ecological impact, residential displacement due to construction, treatment of migrant workers, the government's political stance on Tibet, etc.

Beijing 2008 Olympics were hit by a number of doping scandals before and after the Games had commenced.