China begins Olympic countdown

Beijing: Shimmering stadiums and billions of dollars spent to remake Beijing into a modern city have been overshadowed by pro-Tibet protests, chaos on the Olympic torch relay, and an anti-Western backlash by angry Chinese who sense their coming-out party is being spoiled.

With 100 days to go, the battle has been lost to keep politics out of the Beijing Olympics.

A year ago, former International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch predicted Beijing would be the “best in Olympics history.” A few weeks ago, his successor, Jacques Rogge, said the games were “in crisis.”

The shine is off, and the question is this: Can China and the IOC restore some luster by returning sports and goodwill to the games?

The Olympics have been visited by politics before, but these have become the most contentious since the boycotts of the 1980s.

Also read: Olympic torch arrives in India |Pakistan greets the Torch | Flames of fury | Olympic torch runs into trouble

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Image:Performers dance during a 100-day countdown celebration to the Beijing Summer Olympics, outside the National Stadium, also known as the Bird`s Nest, on April 30, 2008, in Beijing.