page_title: 2008 Summer Olympics
section_title: Concerns and controversies
hierarchical_section_title: 2008 Summer Olympics / Concerns and controversies
caption_attribution_description: The start of the international Human Rights Torch Relay in 9 August 2007, see: www.humanrightstorch.org/news/2008/04/20/video-global-hum... www.humanrightstorch.org/news/relay-route/
context_page_description: The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, and commonly known as Beijing 2008, was an international multi-sport event that was held from 8 to 24 August 2008 in Beijing, China.
  A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events. This was the first time that China had hosted the Summer Olympics, and the third time that the Games had been held in Asia, following the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. These were the third summer Olympic Games staged in a developing country after the Mexico City 1968 Summer Olympics and the 1980 Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union.
  Beijing was awarded the 2008 Games over four competitors on 13 July 2001, having won a majority of votes from members of the International Olympic Committee after two rounds of voting. The Government of the People's Republic of China promoted the Games and invested heavily in new facilities and transport systems. A total of 37 venues were used to host the events, including twelve constructed specifically for the 2008 Olympics.
context_section_description: A variety of concerns over the Games, or China's hosting of the Games, had been expressed by various entities, including claims that China violated its pledge to allow open media access, various supposed human rights violations, its alleged continuous support of repressive regimes (such as Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Sudan and North Korea), air pollution in both the city of Beijing and in neighbouring areas, proposed boycotts, warnings of the possibility that the Beijing Olympics could be targeted by terrorist groups, disruption from pro-Tibetan protesters, and religious persecutions.
  There were also claims that several members of China's women's gymnastics team, including double gold medal winner He Kexin, were too young to compete under the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique's rules for Olympic eligibility, but all were exonerated after an official IOC investigation.
  Collectively, the Beijing 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. In the lead-up to the Olympics, the government allegedly issued guidelines to the local media for their reporting during the Games: most political issues not directly related to the games were to be downplayed; topics such as pro-Tibetan independence and East Turkestan movements were not to be reported on, as were food safety issues such as "cancer-causing mineral water". As the 2008 Chinese milk scandal broke in September 2008, there was widespread speculation that China's desire for a perfect Games may have been a factor contributing towards the delayed recall of contaminated infant formula.
  The games were hit by a number of doping scandals before and after the games had commenced. Seven Russian track and field stars were suspended just before the start of the games for allegedly tampering with their urine samples, only five of the seven were due to take part in the games. Eleven Greek weightlifters also failed tests in the run up to the games and the entire Bulgarian weightlifting team had to withdraw after eleven of their weightlifters also failed tests. A small number of athletes from other nations also failed pre-games tests. Urine samples taken from the games were re-analysed in 2016–17 using more advanced technologies that were not available at the time of competition. 61 athletes failed these re-tests, with 50 medals being stripped.
caption: The banner reads: "Human Rights Abuse Cannot Co-exist with Beijing Olympics", picture taken during the opening of the Human Rights Torch Relay event
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