SPORTS NEWS

The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, has closed Sunday evening the Beijing Olympics-2008, by the traditional formula: "And now, according to tradition, I announce the closure Games the XXIX Olympiad and I invite the youth of the world to assemble four years from London to celebrate with us the Games of the XXX Olympiad. " That inflated the pride of their legitimate 100 medals that China and Beijing have said goodbye to the world after a monumental and festive closing ceremony, where David Beckham almost stole the spotlight at Yao Ming. According to tradition, the marathon and finals of team sports hall to put an end to Olympic competition Sunday, before the closing ceremony. The image of the day will remain the match anthology delivered by the USA and Spain in the finals of the basketball tournament, eventually won by the Americans. -- The highlight of the day Sunday: DREAM MATCH - The American basketball players have recovered part of their long usurped label of "Dream Team" ( "dream team) in winning the Olympic gold after a final extraordinary face of Spain (118-107). It was at the end of one of the best matches in the history of the game that the USA have ended eight years of disillusionment s'adjuger for their first global title since the Sydney Games in 2000. CHILDREN OF THE ART - Samuel Wanjiru is now only 21 years, the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold medal in the marathon, improving further the Olympic record despite the heat and humidity. SURDOUES - The generation of gifted handball french has made his biggest dream in winning the Olympic gold in a controlled final end against the Iceland (28-23). PAPYS GOLDEN - final volley, USA, with a team of thirtysomethings regularly absent from the podium in recent years have surprised the big favorite Brazil (3-1) for bagging the Olympic gold. Organization almost perfect, rainfall records, legendary exploits: the first Olympics in China have been a grand cru, which has enabled the Asian giant to spread its power but emphasized the limits of its tolerance. The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, has closed Sunday evening the Beijing Olympics, described as "truly exceptional", after a new sumptuous ceremony in the "Bird Nest" during which the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, received the Olympic flag from the hands of his counterpart in Beijing, Guo Jinlong. History will remember that sport is in Beijing in August 2008, the American swimmer Michael Phelps has dethroned her compatriot Mark Spitz and his seven gold medals gathered in Munich in 1972. A more for this phenomenon become the most successful athlete of the OJ saga: 14 gold medals in two editions. His broad smile eight times on the highest step of the podium has not eclipsed the media Usain Bolt, another star of the XXIX Olympiad. The Jamaican was the first sprinter to achieve the double Olympic 100/200 m beating two world records, illustrating the insolent domination of its small Caribbean island on the track "Bird Nest". A magnificent stadium which has not smiled champion revered by a nation of 1.3 billion Chinese people, deprived of the gold Liu Xiang at 110 m hurdles. Drama national hero wounded, as the pride of a people that has largely something to console: the final 51 gold medals for China, 36 in the USA. For the first time since his return to the Games in Los Angeles in 1984, the People's Republic of China surpasses the USA. It was written, China was the modest but no less thought. Asked by patriotic pride and politics, even if their leaders will defend. China first Olympic power, it became official since Sunday, August 24. "What we have done during these Games is a great dynamic for the future," said Liu Peng, Chinese Minister of Sports, falling even when the weaknesses of his country queens in the disciplines of the Games, athletics and swimming. Meanwhile, the Head of State french Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the EU, said that with 280 medals, the European Union took "the head of the rankings." Respected as much as feared, because of its economic weight and its international ambitions, the most populous country on the planet has not spared to impress the world. Not only in sporting terms. In memory of athletes and journalists, no one had seen a level of organisation and services of this bill. And such energy at a government against adversity, to the point of putting KO pollution through draconian measures, just launched the Games on August 8. From this viewpoint, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will surely regret not having chosen Beijing in 2001. "It is clear that China has set the bar very high", welcomed Sunday its president, Jacques Rogge, in his press conference for bankruptcy. Some analysts as Tang Wenfang, a professor of international relations at the University of Pittsburgh (USA), ensure that these Games "will help the world to perceive China to a more realistic, more positive." However, it is not certain that China has managed to changes in the negative image it projects often in the West. The tricks of the opening ceremony, declared late, the burrs on foreign journalists, through censorship of the Chinese opinion and arrests of pro-Tibet activists and dissidents, the communist regime has stayed the course severe ' before the Games. "China is not mounted on the Olympic podium in the category freedom of the press," Judge Club of the foreign press in China, which denounced "the use of violence, intimidation and harassment" against journalists. Sophie Richardson, one of Asia responsible for the organization Human Rights Watch, slice into the heart: "These Games finally bury the idea that they would provide the best. The reality is that they have been a catalyst for abuse , Evictions, detentions, political repression and repeated violations of press freedoms. " A vision not shared by the business community. In terms of marketing, Chinese and foreign firms do not seem to regret the investment. The experts agree that China has sold its "brand" even if the impact of the Olympics on its economy - soon in third place globally - promises to be limited. Host the next Olympics, London is "blown, amazed, impressed" by Beijing 2008. Prudent, the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, hopes to "both in 2012." There are at least one area where English will necessarily better: the atmosphere. This was not the party in Beijing. The authorities clearly had other concerns in mind. Final medals table of the top ten countries (Gold Silver Bronze Total) China 51 21 28 100 USA 36 38 36 110 Russia 23 21 28 72 Great Britain 19 13 15 47 Germany 16 10 15 41 Australia 14 15 17 46 South Korea 13 10 8 31 Japan 9 6 10 25 Italy 8 10 10 28 France 7 16 17 40