In 2008 the city of Beijing hosted the XXIX Olympiad. This honor was long awaited by the cities people, and was the final victory in the Olympic dreams of the Chinese people. As a result, the Beijing Olympics played a crucial role in developing the China of today through gaining its legitimacy as a powerful, modern nation, and harmonizing its culture with others. The wide audience offered by the Olympics allowed China to use this event to gain their legitimacy as a world power. When the People’s Republic of China was first formed in 1949, the nation saw participation in the Olympics and other international sports events as an opportunity to improve its world reputation (446). Therefore, athletes were trained and discipline like soldiers; however, in the early years of Chinese participation in international sports events athletes were more of ambassadors to the country, than fierce competitors. They were expected to carry on the ideal of “friendship first, contest second” (93). As the nation developed, participation, and more importantly hosting, of international events became a way for China to showcase their power as a nation. When hosting the Olympics, China was challenged with celebrating its history as an ancient …show more content…
This goal of the Chinese was reflected in their slogan for the games, “One World, One Dream” (450). Additionally, physical symbols were used to showcase China’s desire for a harmonized world. One of these was the use of two different metals, representing the two different cultures, in the medals awarded to the athletes (450). Another symbol of harmonization was that, for the first time in history, the introduction of each nation was done in order of Chinese Pinying instead of Roman Alphabet (2807). The Beijing Olympics introduced the Western World to a rich Eastern Culture, and excellently displayed the harmonization of the