RED GLOW OF THE BIRD’S NEST

After having spent time yesterday in practically every Olympic venue watching the sporting dramas, and the success of team GB unfold, I made it back to the Bird’s Nest for some evening entertainment last night. It was certainly worth the effort!

The reddish glow in the sky above the stadium attracted spectators from miles around. There’s no doubt that with the Bird’s Nest, China has created itself an iconic building for this century that I would say could become in the future comparable with the likes of the Taj Mahal! It will prove priceless to the Chinese in years to come and is definitely money well spent.

There has been much very exciting drama within its walls during the Games so far. This has ranged from the disappointment of the host nation as their pin-up boy Liu Xiang pulled out of the 110m hurdles in the qualifying rounds, to the spectacular performance of the fastest man in the world Mr Usain Bolt from Jamaica in both the 100 and 200metre finals. When l first saw his 100 metre win it brought up thoughts of Seoul 1988 when Ben Johnson won and was almost immediately disqualified when tested for drugs. But in this case there is no taking away from the great success of the lightning Bolt of Jamaica. He has made a huge impact at the Games including breaking two world records and it was a joy to watch.

We should also not forget what Beijing bashers were saying about the air pollution in Beijing. That it would affect the performance of top athletes – quite clearly not the case!

Its dramas like and the stories yet to be told in the remaining few days which draw me to the conclusion that these games will go down in history, as we see China’s “coming out” party – an excellent sporting event that we will remember for a very long time. As well as seeing a sporting superpower emerging, I reckon we will also see them gaining economic success with Chinese brands like Haier – the electronics company – and Li-Ning – sportswear – on shop shelves sooner than we realise.

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