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Olympic Events in 2008

March 2008:   Want to have a look at the inside of the gorgeous Olympic Stadium (Bird’s Nest) before the Beijing Olympics begins? As the last one to be finished among all the 37 venues for the coming Olympic Games, it will be completed in March. It is scheduled to hold its first sport event, the “Good Luck Beijing 2008” International Race Walking Championship on April 18. Liu Xiang, the gold medallist in the 110 m hurdles at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games will appear on May 22–25.

March 25:      The Olympic flame will be lit in Olympia, Greece. From March 25–30, the torch will travel across Greece, ending at Panathinaiko Stadium, the site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

March 31:      After a handover ceremony in the stadium, the flame will be delivered to Beijing. On April 1, the torch will start its journey to 21 international cities.

April:      The last chance to get Olympic tickets will come in April. A real-time Olympic tickets sales process will be conducted in Phase Three from April until the end of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, when tickets will be issued directly upon payment. People ordering tickets during the first two phases will get real tickets in June and July.

May:       For the first time and in an Olympic first, the Olympic flame will arrive on the world’s highest peak Mount Everest. During the arrival ceremony for the flame’s arrival in China on March 31, one of the lanterns with the Olympic flame will be kept aside. The torchbearers will then take the flame to Mount Everest on a day in May that presents the best climatic conditions for the ascent.

       What will the theme songs for the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games sound like? And who will be their singers? People around the world will get the answer on the evening of the 100-day countdowns to the two Games. 

July 8:     The Beijing Games will really be the focus of the world beginning in July. The 2008 Olympic Games Main Press Centre will open, home to more than 20,000 accredited journalists and about 10,000 non-accredited media representatives from around the globe.

July 20:   The 2008 Olympic Village will be officially open in Beijing to about 16,800 athletes from around 200 countries and regions.

August 8:       The most exciting moment arrives at last! The Olympic flame will be lit at 8:08 p.m. at the National Stadium, and the 2008 Olympic Games will begin, with competitions lasting until August 24.

September 6:        A great get-together for all the Paralympians from different parts of the world will take place. The 2008 Paralympic Games will end on September 17.