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According to the article, the Beijing Olympic flame was ilighted in a traditional sun-ray ceremony at 17:45 on Monday in front of the Hera Temple of ancient Olympia.
I also heard that there was a rehearsel earlier on Monday in case that the flame would be lighted successfully because of the dark clouds. It turned out the whole proccess was very succussful. The High Priestess Maria Nafpliotou lit the flame out of a concave mirror. Alexandros Nikolaidis, 2004 Olympic silver medalist in taekwondo, was the first torchholder. Chinese swimmer, also 2004 champion, Luo Xuejuan was the first Chinese to hold the torch.
Actually, I saw the whole process on the big screen in front of our school’s dining hall. A lot of other people also saw that process . That was really a great moment to remenber.

According to the article, Houston rockets beats Sacramento Kings 108-100. Thus Rick Adelman gains his 800 victory in his coaching career. This victory should mainly contributes to two factors: Alston and foul shot.
Rafer Alston wears the same No. 12 that Rick Adelman wore when he played for the San Diego Rockets nearly 40 years ago. He scores 28 points, which contributes a lot to this victory. After the competition, he is quite confident and says “I hope they ask the question, who was on that team that helped him win 800? Years from now, people are going to remember my name”.
Another reason for Rockets’s victory is their foul shot. Sacramento coach Reggie Theus says “It was tough to overcome their free-throw shooting. We had some runs, but then they went to the free-throw line and it was a rally killer.”
Although now YaoMing is out of field since he gets injuried, Huston still performances well. I don’t know how will Yao think about it. I think many readers must remember Yao’s embarrassed smile.

According to the article, German Olympics Sports Union rejects calls for Beijing boycott because of China’s crackdown in Tibet and pledges to send a team to the Beijing Games.The German Olympic Sports Union (DOSB) say they have showed great attention and concerns to Tibet issue but they will not boycott the Olympic Games and they will allow their athletes to speak their minds during the Olympics only if they will not be against the Olympic Charter. They also hope that China will allow 25.000 media to cover this event.
I think DOSB’s opinion is quite correct. Tibet issue is only a political event, we should not associate it with sports. The job of sports is to build bridges not errct walls. That’s why sport is not a right way of experting political pressure.

   According to the article, LZR Racer, a full-length body swimsuit made by Speedo, has  led to 12 world records and FINA is going to examine it.  Some athletes are for this suit and think that it is good for the development of swimming event, while some others are against this idea and thinks that it is not a competition of swimming talents but a technology competition.

  In my opinion, athletes should not wear special swimsuit, the only thing they need to do is to train themselves hard and compete for their pure talents. Otherwise it is the competition of technology. Also, if some athletes are afford to buy that special suit while others can’t, thus it will be unfair for those athletes.

According to the article”Azadi-home of Iran’s football passion”, the author described the prosperous scenario of Azadi stadium.
Before the Iranian Cup semi-final between perspolis and Sepahan, the venue had already reached its massive 100,000 spectator capacity.
“The Azadi stadium and its surrounding areas are clsosed! There are no tickets left! Please stay at home and watch the match on TV!”
Then the aythor described its history, which is full of huge crowds, dramatic matches and sadly, tragedy.
It was built by the foemer Shah of Iran. Its “official opening” did not come until 1974 when Iran won the Asian Games as host. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the stadium’s name was changed to Azadi, meaning freedom. On 7 October 1983, when Iran still involved in the Iron-Iraq war, the stadium had a total of 200,000 people. The Iron-Iraq war also saw the Azadi used for military parades. In 2003, it was renovated. Again, over 100,000 fans filled the sdaduim for a FIFA World Cup, seven fans were killed after being trampled under the foot.
Without a doubt, the Azadi is one of the most passiomate and evocative aeras in the world.
Resource
FIFA magazine
September 2007 / No. 9
Azadi-home of Iran’s football passion
By Shahin Rahmani

According to the article, IOC president Jacques Rogge said Monday that the Olympic marathon in Beijing won’t be tarnished by world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie’s decision to skip the event because of pollution concerns.
Rogge said the games were far stronger than the individual, he respected the absence of Haile Gebrselassie, but he also respected his decision.
Some other athletes also said that he would wear masks to ward off the bad air in Beijing.
But Rogge said that there was no danger whatever. They would postpone it or start it earlier. He didn’t worry it very much.
In my opinion, the athletes should take part in the game until the air condition is good. After all, it is a four year event and hard to meet.

According to the article, three men from a free-press group ran onto the field of the stadium in Ancient Olympia during Monday’s flame-lighting ceremony for the Beijing Olympics, which evokes public attentions to the recent Tibet issure.
It is said that three reportors rushed to the stadium when Li Qi, president of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee and Beijing Communist Party Secretary, was giving a speech. They did this because they thought”If the Olympic flame is sacred, human rights are even more so”.
China state TV cut away from the protest and showed a prerecorded scene, preventing Chinese viewers from seeing the incident. Chinese television commentators did not mention the demonstration.
I don’t know whether it is true or not. If it is true, I think the Chinese goverment is correct because the Olympic Games is holy, nobody has the right to dirty it. These people are taking the advantage of Olympics to pick holes. Tibet wants to separate from our country, should’t we take actions to prevent it. This is the thing that any humiliate govenment should do. When America was attacked by terrorist, their government took effective stategies to hit terrorism. I think now China is under the same circumstance, so we should try our best to protect the unity of our country. This is not human right issue. Don’t associate everything with human right. Maybe we do have human right problem, but not on this issue.
Olympic Game is not a political issue, I think other country should de tolerant and creat a easy atmosphere for 2008.

According to the article, IOC president Jacques Rogge said Monday he is engaged in “silent diplomacy” with China on Tibet and other human rights issues in advance of the Beijing Olympics.
In Ancient Olympia, where he was attending the flame-lighting ceremony for the Beijing Games, he gave his attitude.
Rogge said the IOC is not a political organization and cannot interfere in the internal affairs of China. But he stressed that he was having a private conversation with Chinese leaders and human rights situation has improved a lot since 7 years ago.
He said “I believe the games have advanced the agenda of human rights”
Yes, I think he is correct. If there were no 2008 Olympic Games, Tibet, rightfully so, will not on the front page. So I think Tibet issue is a good thing for China, because Chinese government is beginning to show more concerns on human right. Also under the pressure of International public opinion, the Chinese government will try there best to solve this problem.
The torch relay is scheduled to go through Tibet, creating a possible flashpoint. By now, it seems that there is no plan to change it and Chinese government does not show any tendency to change the torch route. It indicates that our government is confident enough to handle it also if we can succussfully handle it, we can prove our ability of hit terrorism.

    According to the article, Monica Seles, nine-time Grand Slam winner,announced her retirement from competitive tennis on Thursday. Later, the author gives a quite simple introduction to Monica Seles . Tennis plays an important part in her life. In March 1991, she became the champion for the first time and she kept that title for 178 weeks over the next two years. Seles was born in the former Yugoslavia and became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994. In Apirl 1993, her back was hurt in a competition, so she was unable to compete. Two years later, when she came back, that was really a glorious return. She won the world champion title once again. In the spring of 2003, Seles sustained a foot injury , so she quit her tennis career. WTA Tour chief executive Larry Scott hightly appreciate her sport spirit.  Seles said after she retired, she would not play professional tennis but she would also devote her life to charity and to promote this sport. Besides, she will devote more time to children and animals.

Facing the controversy in London that the British Olympic Association said it would require its athletes to sign a new clause in their contracts barring them from making politically sensitive remarks or gestures during the Olympics, Beijing Olympic Organizers made a response that athletes should follow IOC’s rules governing political and religious activity. People in all walks of life made response to British government’s action.It drew strong criticism from human rights groups who wanted to discuss China’s human rights problems during the 2008 Olympics. A newspaper said that “This affair is indicative of the lack of courage that characterizes some officials in the Olympic movement nowadays,”They also said this action would make some Chinese ahthorities become victims and they will be in prison. British Olympic Association said they did not mean to restrict people’s talk freedom and they did not suffer any pressure from Chinese politics.