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The International Olympics at Beijing is going to start at 8pm on 8 August, 2008, 08/08/08 and the sports celebration will continue for 16 days till 24 August.

The number eight is considered by the Chinese as a very special number and the Olympics opening ceremony will therefore start at 08:08:08, that is 8 minutes and 8 seconds past 8 in the evening (Beijing time) on the 8th day of August in the year’08. According to the reports, grand fireworks are planned by the organizers on the opening ceremony which the whole world can watch. This will be the opening and a very important moment for the celebration; hence all the possible problems are under consideration. But what if it starts raining that time??

China’s Scientists are worried about this possibility and they are engaged in the solution of this possible problem which can ruin the whole celebration. Till now, scientists are trying to make possible that in case, rain clouds come on the day, their path can be averted by rocket attack. They will be targeted by rockets and rain drops will be converted into ice that could be kicked away by rockets.

The whole world is focused on the games. With almost every country represented, there will be something to cater for everyone.

A bumper 29 sports will be on display. These are: Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Fencing, Football, Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Softball, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Weightlifting and Wrestling.

Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee and the Chinese organizers BOCOG have agreed to lift all Internet restrictions for the Beijing Games, IOC vice-president Gunilla Lindberg told reporters on Friday.

This issue had caused major stir days before the start of Olympics with IOC officials insisting there would be no censorship and BOCOG saying sensitive sites would remain blocked.

Top stars will be taking part. Athletics will have Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay in the sprints. Isinbayeva in the Pole Vault, Kenisa Bekela the great Ethiopian long distant runner and all the top Kenyans. Federer and Nadal and the Williams sisters will participate in Tennis. Kobe Byrant and Lebron James in basketball and Ronaldinho will be in football.

Tags: Archery, Asafa Powell, Athletics, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Bejing, Boxing, Canoeing, Celebration, China, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Federer, Fencing, Fireworks, Football, Gymnastics, Handball, Hockey, IOC, Isinbayeva, Judo, Kenisa Bekela, Kobe Byrant, Lebron James, Modern Pentathlon, Nadal, Olympics, Rain, Ronaldinho, Rowing, Sailing, Scientists, Shooting, Softball, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Tyson Gay, Usain Bolt, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Williams sisters, Wrestling

UEFA Euro 2008 European football championship final tournament is going to kick off in Austria and Switzerland from June 7. Football fans are eagerly waiting for the grand event of Euro-2008 which is the second most popular event after Football World Cup.

The two Alpine countries are ready to shelter lots of football fans and players to come on June 7, the official start of the tournament. The championship will cover 31 matches in its 23 days long tour. 16 grand teams of Europe with 368 players will be traveling to Austria and Switzerland .The final will be held at the Ernst Happel Stadion in Vienna on 29 June.

The first European Football Championships which was held in France in 1960 included only 4 teams in the finals. Since then the European Football Championships tournament grew to the 16 team format going to take place in Austria-Switzerland during Euro 2008. The tournament was originally called the European Nations Cup and changed its name in 1968.

The 16 participant teams have already come to Switzerland which is taking on the Czech Republic in Basel’s St Jakob Park. With an estimated five million people expected to visit the two countries in the three weeks of the tournament, the party will only get bigger.

Tickets are already sold out and lots of fans are going to gather in each of the eight towns and cities that will host matches. That will definitely cause a little trouble to authorities of the host countries but the officers are confident about their management and say that they will control all the hurdles if any including the prospect of a terrorist attack.

“We are extremely well-prepared and have seen nothing to suggest any large-scale security scenario,” Austria’s interior minister Guenther Platter said on June 3, as quoted by Reuters.

Germany, which hosted the World Cup in 2006, has perfect security arrangements. Inspired by Germany, Austria re-introduced border checks for the duration of the tournament. Switzerland, not being part of the European Union, still maintains check points on its borders. But most foul play, if any, would be restricted to football pitches, the authorities say.

Participating teams are as follows:

Group A: Czech Republic, Purtagal, Switezerland, Turkey
Group B: Australia, Kroasia, Germany, Pollnad
Group C: France, Italy, Holland, Romania
Group D: Greece, Russia, Spain, Sweden

Tags: Euro 2008, Euro Cup, Euro Cup 2008, Football, Greece