MOSCOW – Beijing was awarded the 2008 Olympics on Friday, winning the games for the world’s most populous country for the first time.
The International Olympic Committee picked China over rival bids from Toronto; Paris; Istanbul, Turkey; and Osaka, Japan.
Beijing won on the second round of a secret ballot by receiving 56 votes, setting off a flag-waving celebration of tens of thousands of people in the Chinese capital.
Toronto got 22 votes, Paris 18 and Istanbul nine. Osaka was eliminated in the first round of voting, with six votes.
Despite criticism of China’s human rights record, Beijing was the front-runner throughout the race. IOC members clearly believed that the Olympics will open China to the world, improve the human rights situation and speed social and economic reforms.
Beijing’s victory came seven years after it lost to Sydney by two votes in the election for the 2000 Olympics. Human rights issue were a factor in that defeat, with memories of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square still fresh.
The 2008 bid was also targeted by human rights activists, who said giving the games to China would reward a Communist regime that brutally represses its citizens and occupies Tibet.
But many IOC members – as well as some politicians – embraced the position that the Olympics would promote positive change in the country of 1.3 billion people.
IOC officials also said China deserved the games because it is a rising sports power which has been a force in the Olympics since returning to the games in 1984 after a 32-year absence.
Toronto and Paris had cast themselves as risk-free “bids of certainty.” Toronto portrayed itself as the best bid for the athletes, while Paris played on its allure as the world’s favorite tourist city.
But Toronto was hurt by the controversy surrounding its mayor, Mel Lastman, who remarked recently that he feared attending an Olympic meeting in Africa because “I just see myself in a pot of boiling water with all these natives dancing around me.”
African IOC members raised the matter during Toronto’s presentation to the general assembly Friday. Canadian officials said Lastman had offered his apologies. Lastman was left off Toronto’s official team at the ceremony.
Paris, meanwhile, was unable to convince members to keep the Olympics in Europe for a third straight time after the 2004 Summer Games in Athens and 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy.
The award of the 2008 city was the first of two major decisions being taken by the IOC at its 112th session. On Monday, the IOC will elect a successor to Juan Antonio Samaranch, who is stepping down after 21 years in office.
MESSAGE FROM THE CHINESE HEAD OF STATE
Moscow , 14 July 2001
The President of the People’s Republic of China, Jiang Zemin, has sent the following message to the President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch.
“I am very delighted to know that Beijing has won the right to host the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008. I wish to, on behalf of the Chinese Government and people and in my own name, pay high tribute to you for the contribution you have made for the international Olympic Movement. I also wish to express, through you, my heartfelt thanks to the International Olympic Committee for its trust in and support to China. The Chinese Government and people will go all out to support Beijing in turning the 2008 Olympic Games into a ground gathering to carry forward the Olympic spirit, promote world peace and enhance friendship among the peoples of the world.”
