By Kim Jung-ho
From August 8, eyes all over the world will be focused on Beijing for 17 days. Beijing is the 29th city to host the Olympic games.
Fortunately, the time difference between Korea and China is only 1 hour, so we can enjoy events more comfortably compared to the last Olympic held in Athens when the time difference was 7 hours.
Here are some interesting facts to help you enjoy the Olympic Games.
There are 28 main events in the Beijing Olympics, consisting of 302 games. This means there are 302 gold medals to be won. The final goal of all athletes is the same: ``winning a gold medal.'' If they do, they win fame and honor as well as great reward. Various governments around the world plan to reward those athletes who win an Olympic medal. The Indonesian government is willing to pay $105,000 to its gold medal winners to encourage them. The Korean government is going to give 50,000,000 won to gold medal winners, with their sport associations also receiving a bonus.
Do you know who was the first gold medal winner of the Olympics? He was James Brendan Connolly, a student at Harvard University and a runner. When he heard about the Athens Olympic in 1895, he asked school authorities for help, but they paid but little attention to his request. Their position was that they couldn't allow him to stop studying to participate in a sport's match. He finally went to Athens after giving up his scholarship. Only 10 players participated in the event. Connolly had the honor of getting the first Olympic gold medal. His pure enthusiasm for the sport is a clear example of how athletes are expected to play.
The first Olympics I remember were the Seoul games in 1988. I was young, but I clearly remember the event due to a young boy who ran into the main arena, driving a hoop. He was called ``hoop boy.'' Each Olympics provide special memories such as this. At the Olympics in Athens, a swimming race was held in the ocean, so it became important to know how to ride the waves. In 1908, Pietri Dorando sank down on the ground right before finishing a marathon. He finished the race with the help of a referee, but was not given the gold medal.
Spirits are high in China in anticipation of the Games. 3,500 Chinese newborn babies have already been given the name ``Olympic.'' A cigarette packet collector living in Gilim City wrote "北京 2008" using only cigarettes. He used 486 different types of cigarettes, which he had been collecting for 10 years.
He wanted to show his love through the creation. Opening ceremonies will begin at eight on the 8th August. Why so many 8's? It is because the Chinese really like the number 8, which sounds like the word for money in Chinese.
The Chinese government looks forward to a growing economy.
With GiJung Son at the head of the list, Korea has won 56 gold medals since the 11th Berlin Olympic in 1936. The Korean national team will consists of about 200 athletes at the Beijing Olympics. They aim to win more than 10 gold medals. If they achieve this goal, the Korea sports Council expect that Korea will rank in the top 10 medal winners at the event. Whenever Koreans become depressed, sport stars can give us pleasure and happiness. We pray for good health to all Korean athletes, and that they do their best without any regrets. Go for it!
Kim Jung-ho attends Chung-Ang University in Seoul.