The 2008 Summer Games throws a spotlight on China. With Beijing going to outrageous lengths to play host to the world, not everything has gone exactly as planned. And, of course, at any gathering of 192 countries, anything can happen.
Bikini-Clad Cheerleaders Spice Up Games
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In America, we're used to Cheerleaders who root for one side or the other. At the Beijing Games, nonpartisan cheerleaders are using "a variety of dances to make sure the fans stay rowdy." Indeed, they have.
Chinese Warn: No Streaking
Just to be clear, running around nude at Olympics venues is strictly prohibited. Chinese authorities are also banning any "insulting banners" and anyone with a mental illness or sexually transmitted disease.Olympic Athletes Go Nude
Nadav Kander/Handout
Every Olympic star has to worry about overexposure. But this year, three of Britain's athletes are taking it to a whole new level, posing in Powerade advertisements without any clothing.
A Picky Crown Prince William-Alexander
You might not want to shake this dutch royal's hand when you saw what he was obsessively doing with his pinkie and his nose. (Via Oddly Enough's Robert Basler)Once a Cheerleader, Always a Cheerleader
Photo © Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Everyone knows sports-loving President Bush once owned the Texas Rangers. (And, unlike invading Iraq, he deeply regrets trading Sammy Sosa.) A lesser-known fact: Bush was a high school cheerleader, and that was evident as he watched the 2008 Olympic Games
Olympic Committe Urges Red Army to Smile
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All those stone-faced soldiers are scaring people at the Olympics, at least according to Gerhard Heiberg, a Norwegian member of the International Olympic Committee. "Ive asked them to get people to smile more," he tells the AFP news service, noting that his request was met with laughs.
Olympic Excess: Fireworks, Face-Painting and Commercialism
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If you thought body painting and foam fingers were the exclusive excess of American sports, you missed the foam-fingered, wigged-out crowds along Wangfujiang Ave. for the opening ceremony.
Olympic Snacking: Seahorse-on-a-Stick
Photo © Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
China might have a KFC right near the Forbidden City, but if you're looking for more exotic delectables, Olympic snack foods include fried scorpion, goat lung soup, starfish and cicadas over rice, and starfish-on-a-stick, served up like corn dogs.
