When the curtain finally rises for the long-awaited start of the Beijing Olympic Games, it will provide China and its historic capital with an unprecedented platform to reach into homes across the world. Media from all over the planet have put their spotlights on China and are covering it from all different angles: history, culture, tourism, economics and the huge challenges the country has to overcome. No other event has such a global reach and saturation in terms of TV and internet coverage.

Since opening up to the world two decades ago, China has seen a steady rise in the number of international visitors. In 2007, international arrivals increased by nearly 10%, according to the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). China is currently the world’s fourth most popular tourist destination, behind France, Spain and the USA. The United Nations agency forecasts that it will overtake them to become the top inbound destination by 2020 – and the Olympic Games are seen as a major factor in achieving that.  

Half a million international visitors are expected in Beijing during the Games, with a further 2.4 million domestic visitors from across China, evidence of the country’s fast-rising middle-class sector and its growing propensity to travel. UNWTO has been working with the China National Tourism Administration in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games, including running seminars and advising on various aspects. UNWTO Assistant Secretary-General Geoffrey Lipman is unequivocal about the event’s potential for China. “Tourism will really benefit from the Olympic Games; it is one of the biggest beneficiaries,” he said.

Not everyone subscribes to that view, however. European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) Executive Director Tom Jenkins said public perception about overcrowding and overpricing blighted host destinations. Countries also often had “unrealistic expectations” about tourist arrivals. UNWTO’s Lipman disagrees. He asserts that the advantages of hosting the Olympic Games go far beyond measuring initial visitor numbers. They include major infrastructure improvements which will bring benefits long after the Games, such as the new terminal at Beijing’s Capital International Airport and Qingdao’s world-class sailing facilities, and improvements in service training and standards. “You don’t measure the impact of something like this in terms of what it is going to do for tourism this year,” said Lipman. “China will have such a fantastic resource for the future.”

Ever since Kip Keino won the Olympic 1500 metres title in Mexico City in 1968, the Kenyan people have looked to their middle- and long-distance runners for inspiration, and never have they been in more need of it than now. In a year which began so tragically for them, Olympic success will go a little way towards healing their wounds, and if 19-year-old Asbel Kiprop has his way, then he will be doing some of that healing.




“We have to forget what happened”
Kiprop comes from Kaptinga village near Eldoret, scene of some of the worst violence following last December’s presidential elections, including the death of former Olympic athlete Lucas Sang. Kiprop trains nearby, at the internationally renowned Kip Keino High Performance Training Centre. “The athletes know what happened and how it affected them,” said Keino, now President of the Kenyan Olympic Committee. “We have to forget what happened and move on with the training.”

World junior champion
Kiprop’s colleague Luke Kibet, the world marathon champion, was hit on the head by a stone during the fighting and is now rated a doubtful contender for Beijing. Kiprop, fortunately, emerged unscathed and has picked up where he left off last year when he became world junior cross country champion. “That victory was my turning point,” he said. “I felt on top of the world and I have never looked back.”

“I’m just 9.24 seconds away from the world record”
He went on to become All-Africa 1500m champion before finishing fourth in the World Championships in Osaka with a personal best of 3:35.24. “I am just 9.24 seconds away from the world record in the 1500 metres,” said Kiprop after that race, a record held by his track idol Hicham El Guerrouj. “Although only Bernard Lagat has come close to the record in six years, I believe the time is now ripe for another attempt.”

Middle-distance double?
Like Keino and his father before him, who also ran the 1500m and came fourth in the 1987 All-Africa Games, Kiprop has recently enrolled in the Kenyan police force. Furthermore, he is qualified for the Games in the 800m as well as the 1500m**. One way or another, Kiprop is a name we are likely to hear much more of.




For the Beijing Olympic Games, Olympic Solidarity has awarded a total of 1,088 scholarships to 166 National Olympic Committees in 21 individual Olympic sports.

 

A springboard for the Games

OLYMPIC SCHOLARSHIPS FOR ATHLETES “BEIJING 2008”  ( 5659 Kb )