Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

When Beijing won the race to host the 2008 Olympic Games it caused a great sense of excitement and jubilation in China's capital. Beijing won out over Toronto, Paris, Osaka and Istanbul to become the first city in China to host an Olympic Games.

When the announcement was made by outgoing Olympic president Juan Antonio Samaranch, it was greeted with wild scenes of jubilation from the Chinese delegation in Moscow, and with fireworks in Beijing itself. More than 200,000 people packed into Tiananmen Square to celebrate the news - the largest spontaneous demonstrations since the democracy movement of 1989. From officially staged firework displays to spontaneous cheering and hooting of car horns from the massive crowds who brought the streets of Beijing to a near standstill, there was no doubting the genuine delight in China at the International Olympic Committee's decision. "Smiles everywhere, joy ignites," read the headline in the Beijing Morning Post. Even top political leaders, including President Jiang Zemin, joined the crowds, grinning broadly and hugging ecstatic revellers.

"Comrades, we express our deep thanks to all our friends around the world and to the IOC for helping to make Beijing successful in its Olympic bid," said the President.

China's nationalist rival Taiwan welcomed the Olympic decision, with manybelieving that it could reduce the military and political tensions between the two countries.

"Only by maintaining regional peace and stability can the Olympic spirit be truly realised," said a Taiwanese government spokesman.

"Our efforts have paid off. The world has come to understand Beijing and China better," declared Wang Wei, secretary-general of the Beijing bid committee.

"There's a lot of hard work to do but I am confident we can hold an excellent Games. I think the world will come to understand us a lot better."

Beijing had lost the race for the 2000 Games by just two votes to Sydney - but there were no such dramas this time round. The bid committee appears to have convinced many with the simple argument that China's time had come, and that the century-old Olympic dreams of a quarter of the world's population could no longer be denied. Bid officials told IOC delegates in Moscow that staging the Olympics would help to narrow the distance between China and the outside world, and the country's media have suggested that success would demonstrate that China has come of age as a member of the international community. And delight is perhaps greatest among members of China's sport-obsessed and increasingly internationally minded young generation - as well as among many citizens of Beijing for whom staging the Olympics will bring long awaited improvements in the city's creaking infrastructure.

The first sporting reaction to China's victory came from the International Amateur Athletic Foundation, who welcomed the decision. IAAF president Lamine Diack said he was convinced Beijing would organise a "magnificent Olympic Games".

"By choosing Beijing, the International Olympic Committee has made a decision of great significance because now 1.3 billion people will feel completely integrated into the world sports movement."

Conceding defeat, Toronto's bid chief Paul Henderson said: "We did a great job but the odds were against us. We knew Beijing had a lot of strengths, it was theirs all along. We were fighting an uphill battle. I think Beijing had to make a major mistake and they didn't."

To secure the Games, Beijing and the Chinese government had agreed a substantial budget of more than US$14bn. There are few venues that are currently up to standard, so the centre of the Games will be a giant Olympic Park, with venues for 15 sports and an Athletes' Village on the northern outskirts of the city, on an axis with some of Beijing's notable landmarks such as the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. State media have said as much as $30bn could be invested in the city's reconstruction - not just in creating the all-new Olympic district, but in basic services like sewers, subway lines and new roads. They will improve existing sports facilities, invest huge sums to build five new metro lines and 125 miles of new roads, and clean up Beijing's polluted air and water. Shares in Beijing-based construction and real estate companies saw their values rise significantly on the news of Beijing's win.