(woman speaking Greek)
MAN (narrating): At the site of the ancient Olympics,
the sacred flame of the 2008 games is ignited.
Kindled by the light of the sun,
the flame symbolizes peace and unity among nations.
For the first time, the flame is being lit for the city of Beijing.
Soon the whole world will be ignited with the Olympic spirit.
For athletes around the world,
the lighting of the flame marks the final countdown
to the event they've been preparing for their entire lives.
This serene setting
is home to the famous Essen Canoe Club.
(speaking English)
(speaking German)
(beeps)
NARRATOR: German sprint canoeist Tomasz Wylenzek
trains here every day for the Beijing Olympic Games.
(speaking German)
NARRATOR: On his right arm, Wylenzek sports an Olympic tattoo,
commemorating his gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
His hope, to earn a matching tattoo for his left arm in Beijing.
MAN (on PA): Okay, riders. Let's set 'em up.
On the go. Riders ready.
BMX, the children's cycling phenomenon of the 1970s,
is now an internationally recognized sport.
Kyle Bennett began BMX racing at the age of seven.
Now 28, he's won three world championships.
Here in this Houston suburb, he's training for Beijing,
where BMX will make its Olympic debut.
All right. You ready?
Go.
MAN: Set.
(starter pistol fires)
At the Jamaican National Stadium in Kingston,
spectators gather for a University of Technology track event.
But most of them are here to see the university's most famous alumnus,
Asafa Powell.
Powell has held the world record for the hundred-meter sprint
since 2005,
and he's won every major track competition in the world -
- (horn honking) - Except the Olympic Games.
(speaking English)
♪♪ (up-tempo rock)
Powell's toughest competition in Beijing
will come from one of his own teammates,
Usain Bolt.
Bolt is four years his junior and far less experienced,
but beneath the young runner's playful exterior
is a fierce competitor with a thirst for gold.
- (crowd cheering) - (chattering)
(on stereo) ♪ Dancing, ah-ah-ah ♪
♪ We are dancing, ah-ah-ah ♪
♪ Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah, dancing ♪
♪ Ah-ah-ah-ah ♪
♪ Oh, we are dancing ♪
- ♪ Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah ♪ - ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
♪♪ (continues)
(crowd cheering)
(whistling, cheering continues)
Half a world away, in Ethiopia,
long-distance running has provided a way out of poverty
for many young athletes.
Here, three-time Olympian Haile Gebrselassie
is a living legend.
(cheering)
(speaking Amharic)
(loud cheering)
NARRATOR: The 35-year-old star has already won two Olympic gold medals.
He hopes to win a third in Beijing.
♪♪ (man singing up-tempo pop)
♪♪ (instrumental)
It's the Iranian New Year,
and Sara Khosh Jamal Fekri and her coach, Maryam Mehr Azar,
have an extra reason to celebrate.
Khosh Jamal has just qualified to compete at the Beijing Olympic Games.
(woman chanting)
(women speaking Persian)
Khosh Jamal will be the first woman from Iran to compete
in an Olympic tae kwon do event.
At the training hall
of the Iranian Tae Kwon Do Association,
Hadi Saei Bonehkohal is winner of a gold medal
in Athens
and known as the warrior of Iran.
Now training in a heavier weight class,
he has his eye on a second Olympic win.
(man shouting)
(shouting continues)
(man chanting)
Beijing, a cosmopolitan city,
where East meets West
and where tradition meets the 21st century.
The 2008 Olympic Games
marks a great milestone for a city whose rich culture
goes back over 3,000 years.
(drumming, shouting)
(speaking Chinese language)
(speaking English)
NARRATOR: Every Olympic Games is both defined and remembered
by its Opening Ceremony.
Directing this all-important spectacle
will be the job of world-renowned filmmaker Zhang Yimou.
But Zhang first needs to convince a skeptical panel of experts
to go along with his concept,
to emphasize the performing arts
and to build the ceremony around the theme of paper,
one of ancient China's four great inventions.
(speaking Chinese language)
After many long discussions,
Zhang's persistence finally pays off.
The experts approve his ambitious proposal.
Performers and athletes will paint on an enormous paper scroll
during the ceremony.
(crowd cheering)
While Zhang works to make his bold dream a reality,
the Olympic torch begins its journey of harmony
across five continents.
For the first time, the torch will be carried along the Silk Road,
the ancient route that first connected China to the rest of the world
more than 2,000 years ago.
Never before has the torch been carried by so many
or traveled such a great distance.
More than 700 million people witness the journey
and are inspired by its message:
Light the passion, share the dream.
May 8,
three months before the start of the Olympics Games.
Tibetan climber Ciren Wangmu
carries the flame to the summit of Mount Everest.
For the first time, the Olympic torch and the Olympic flag
reach the top of the world.
August 6.
The long-awaited Olympic flame
arrives in the host city of Beijing.
(cheering)
The Opening Ceremony has been two years in the making.
Now around 16,000 performers gather in the new National Stadium
for final rehearsals.
♪♪ (instrumental)
It's taken five years to build the National Stadium
and the other competition venues
for the 28th Summer Olympic sports.
Twelve stunning, new permanent structures have been created
in addition to 11 renovations
and eight temporary venues.
This pristine Olympic center
beckons to the thousands of athletes on their way to the event
on which they have pinned their hopes and dreams.
WOMAN (on PA): Your attention, please. Flight -
I am here.
Passport, please.
WOMAN: I feel her.
Hi.
MAN: Everything is going to go really, really quick, really fast,
so stay sharp, stay alert.
The business is that we're here to win.
(speaking German)
WOMAN:
WOMAN: Wow!
(spectators cheering)
NARRATOR: Fireworks form 29 giant footprints,
walking above the city towards the National Stadium.
One footprint for each modern Olympic Games.
(rhythmic shouting)
(spectators cheering)
(spectators applauding)
Zhang Yimou's magnificent paper scroll opens the ceremony
with a haunting Zen flavor.
Papermaking is one of ancient China's four great inventions
that changed the world forever.
Beginning with the fireworks, which represents gunpowder,
these four gifts of ancient China to the world
are the main features of the Opening Ceremony.
(spectators applauding)
(men shouting in unison)
Movable type, the third of China's four great inventions,
forms the Chinese character He, or harmony,
one of the most important poles of Chinese culture.
(cheering, applauding)
China's fourth great invention is the compass,
honored here by a depiction of Zheng He's voyage to the western ocean
more than 600 years ago.
Zheng's ships, loaded with Chinese tea, silk and porcelain,
opened the Silk Road at sea
between China and the rest of the world.
(spectators cheering)
♪♪ (woman singing in Chinese language)
(spectators cheering loudly)
(cheering, applauding)
MAN (on PA): Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome
the athletes of the games of the 29th Olympiad.
NARRATOR: Beijing is host to the largest number of participants
of any Olympic Games -
around 10,500 athletes from 204 countries and regions.
Making their Olympic debuts are the Marshall Islands,
Tuvalu and Montenegro.
ANNOUCCER: Republic of Montenegro.
Jamaica.
(man speaks in Chinese language)
Japan.
(Chinese language)
Brazil.
(Chinese language)
NARRATOR: : More than 100 heads of state,
among them presidents, royalty
and prime ministers, are in attendance.
It's another record number
for this global sporting event.
According to tradition,
Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics,
is the first to march into the stadium.
And China, the host country,
will enter last.
But for the first time, the other countries enter
not alphabetically,
but according to the stroke order
of the first character of their country in simplified Chinese.
ANNOUCCER: Islamic Republic of Iran.
(Chinese language)
Saudi Arabia.
(Chinese language)
Great Britain.
(Chinese language)
Russian Federation.
(Chinese language)
United States of America.
(Chinese language)
Ethiopia.
(Chinese language)
Germany.
(Chinese language)
(cheering loudly)
(woman speaking foreign language)
People's Republic of China.
(Chinese language)
(cheering loudly)
Welcome to Beijing.
(cheering)
(cheering loudly)
♪♪ (choir singing)
NARRATOR: Over the last 130 days,
the Beijing Olympic flame has passed through the hands
of more than 20,000 torchbearers,
crossed 21 countries on five continents
and traveled more than 85,000 miles.
It's now in the hands of the final torchbearer,
former gymnast and Olympic champion Li Ning.
ANNOUCCER: Li Ning, artistic gymnastics, Olympic gold medalist.
(Chinese language)
♪♪ (choir singing)
(cheering grows louder)
NARRATOR: : The flame is at home.
The opening ceremonies come to an end.
It's time for the games to begin.
The men's 100-meter race, the shortest of all the sprints.
The winner will be given the title of the world's fastest man.
It's a showdown between two Jamaican teammates,
Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell.
(speaking English)
(crowd clapping)
(woman speaking English)
(man on PA, indistinct)
MAN: Set.
- (starter pistol fires) - (crowd cheering)
Bolt stuns the world with a new world record of 9.69 seconds.
He is now officially the fastest man in history.
But in the last 20 meters of the race, he actually slowed down,
a sign that there's an even faster time in his future.
(man speaking English)
(woman speaking)
(woman speaking English)
(speaking Chinese language)
(Chinese language)
NARRATOR: Even though this is only the preliminary round
of the men's 110-meter hurdles,
the bird's nest is packed with spectators
eager to see China's greatest sports superstar, Liu Xiang.
At the 2004 games in Athens,
Liu triumphed in the hurdles,
winning China's first gold in a men's track and field event.
Now his fans and his country
are counting on him for a second victory.
Adding to his tremendous pressure is a recurring Achilles tendon injury.
(crowd cheering)
(crowd chanting)
MAN: Set.
(starter pistol fires)
It's a false start.
The athletes return to their starting position.
But Liu quietly turns around and leaves.
(man speaking Chinese language on PA)
(crowd groaning, shouting)
(Chinese language)
(sobs)
WOMAN: First, a complement on the former question
that Liu Xiang was kept on training during -
NARRATOR: China has another great hope in their women's gymnastic team.
Team captain Cheng Fei holds several world titles
and is a veteran of the Athens games.
But this will be the first Olympics
for her five younger teammates.
(Chinese language)
(woman speaking)
The Chinese National Women's Gymnastics Team
began preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games
back in 2003.
Jiang Yuyuan, then 12,
was one of more than 100 young gymnasts recruited from across China.
The girls vied for the six places on the team
over five years of grueling training.
(woman speaking Chinese language)
(crowd chanting)
NARRATOR: : While most of the Chinese gymnasts are newcomers,
the American team is an experienced group of champions,
including two of the sport's most venerable stars,
Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson.
The world's eyes are on China and the United States -
as they face off in the team final.
(man speaking Chinese language)
(crowd cheering)
(cheering)
MAN (onPA): People's Republic of China.
(man speaking Chinese language)
(cheering)
Up next on balance beam, for the People's Republic of China.
(man speaking Chinese language)
(woman speaking Chinese language)
(cheering)
(crowd cheering)
MAN (on PA): Nastia Liukin.
(cheering loudly)
♪♪ ("March of the Volunteers")
(speaking Persian)
(shouts)
Yeah, baby. We're here!
NARRATOR: American Steven Lopez
comes from a family
that is passionate about tae kwon do.
His brother Mark and sister Diana are also members of the US national team.
And his older brother Jean is their head coach.
(shouting)
This will be the third Olympic Games for both Steven and Jean.
The whole family has come to Beijing to cheer them on.
- ALL: We climbed the Great Wall! - Whoo!
In 2004, both Lopez and Saei won gold in different weight categories.
They now look forward to competing face-to-face for the first time.
Activate yourself.
WOMAN (on PA): Representing United States of America,
Steven Lopez.
(cheering)
NARRATOR: Lopez is up first against Italy's Mauro Sarmiento.
When I step into that ring, I have all belief in myself and my faith.
I'm never by myself, you know, because I always have my family with me.
Yes! Very nice.
If you're not comfortable hitting on the initial one, go ahead and make a miss.
Circle around, okay?
Nice.
(cheering)
Nice. Very good.
Left temple. There you go. Good. There we go.
Nice. Very good.
He didn't do anything.
(umpire shouts)
(crowd cheering)
Together! Come on! Keep it together!
Keep it together! Come on!
MAN: All right, so what he's doing is just holding it there.
He's not doing it affirmative at the other person, right?
We were told at the team leader meeting, when you lift your leg,
you hold your leg up in the air, the other guy kicks into it.
When you don't do anything -
- Honestly - - This is what they told us.
If you went like this, that's still fine.
Let's not even argue their point.
I'm not arguing their point.
I want to make sure that the rules are applied consistently.
We file the formal - Do we have to file a formal protest?
We did.
(chattering continues, faint)
NARRATOR: A controversial penalty ruling
destroys Lopez's dreams of a third gold medal.
Saei will now face Sarmiento,
an unfamiliar opponent.
- (whistling) - (chanting)
♪♪ ("National Anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran")
(crowd cheering)
WOMAN (onPA): Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations to all the medalists!
(man on PA speaking Chinese language)
NARRATOR: Tae kwon do is one of the few sports
in which Iranian women are permitted to compete.
Sara Khosh Jamal Fekri trains under certain restrictions.
She must keep her hair, ears and body covered at all times.
And she may not train with male athletes.
(shouts)
(women shouting)
(man speaking Persian)
(laughing)
NARRATOR: The extra challenges of her training
have brought her even closer to her coach, Maryam Mehr Azar,
who has great expectations for her student's first Olympics.
(shouting)
MEHR AZAR:
NARRATOR: Khosh Jamal loses in the quarterfinals,
bringing her Olympic journey to an end.
But she has already made her mark,
both on the history and the future of Iranian women's sport.
♪♪ (loud dance)
MAN (onPA): Usain Bolt!
NARRATOR: On the eve of his 22nd birthday,
100-meter winner Usain Bolt
stands on the starting line of the 200-meter final.
He's already proven himself as the fastest man in the world.
Now time is his only rival.
MAN: Set.
(starter pistol fires)
By shattering Michael Johnson's 12-year record,
Bolt has made history yet again.
He's become the first man ever
to break both the 100-meter and 200-meter world records
at the same Olympic Games.
(crowd cheering)
(cheering continues)
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪
NARRATOR: During the 16 days of competition,
the Olympic athletes have pulled off a string of stunning performances.
The South Koreans have long dominated women's archery.
They once again prove their strength by winning the team gold medal.
(cheering)
But Chinese archer Zhang Juan Juan breaks their winning streak
by taking the individual title.
(crowd cheering)
(cheering)
Table tennis continues to be dominated by China,
where it's known as the national pastime.
Here in Beijing, China wins gold in all four events,
plus the silver and bronze in the single's competitions.
(cheering)
(man speaking Chinese language)
- Weight lifter Liu Chunhong of China - - (horn blows)
Attempts to snatch and clean and jerk 286 kilos,
four times her body weight.
With this lift, she has now broken three world records
in the 69-kilo category -
one for the snatch, one for the clean and jerk
and a third for her combined score.
Twenty-year-old Andres Aramnau from Belarus
wins the men's 105-kilo gold
and breaks the world record by lifting an additional six kilos.
(bell ringing)
In track cycling, the British team fights to defend its supremacy.
In the four-kilometer team pursuit, led by Bradley Wiggins,
they break the world record twice in two days.
MAN (on PA): Ladies and gentlemen... winner!
NARRATOR: : Women's track and field provides even more groundbreaking moments.
The women's 3,000-meter steeplechase makes its Olympic debut.
And Gulnara Samitova-Galkina of Russia
breaks her own world record to win a gold medal
with a time of eight minutes, 58.81 seconds.
(crowd cheering)
Another Russian athlete, gold medalist Yelena Isinbaeva,
succeeds in her thrilling attempt
to break the world pole-vaulting record for the 24th time.
(cheering)
The National Aquatic Center, known as the "Water Cube,"
presents a majestic setting for extraordinary achievements
and the perfect venue for American Michael Phelps
as he delivers on his promise of eight Olympic gold medals.
The 23-year-old breaks seven world records
and one more Olympic record,
the first athlete to do so in the history of the modern Olympics.
In just nine days,
21 world records and 64 Olympic records
have been shattered here in the Aquatic Center.
It's no wonder spectators are beginning to call it "the Magic Cube."
(chattering)
This is the fourth Olympic Games for long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie.
After Athens, he switched from the 10,000-meter event
to road racing
due to an Achilles tendon injury
and has since shattered marathon records all over the world.
But Gebrselassie is worried that Beijing's weather will trigger his asthma,
so he has made the shocking decision not to enter the marathon.
Instead, he will return to the 10,000-meter race.
(speaking English)
(man on PA, indistinct)
Gebrselassie now stands at the starting line
along with his protegee, Kenenisa Bekele,
who won the gold medal in Athens.
(crowd cheering)
(man on PA speaking Chinese language)
Gebrselassie's thin, 5'3" frame
belies his incredible speed and endurance.
As a child, he ran six miles to and from school every day
through the rugged highlands of East Africa.
Now, after many years of perseverance and dedication to his sport,
he is regarded by many
as the greatest distance runner of all time.
(speaking English)
One, two, three.
Go, go!
Go, go, go!
Wow.
(speaking Amharic)
NARRATOR: It's been four years since Gebrselassie last competed
in the 10,000-meter race.
He has lost the precise rhythmic control
that used to guarantee him a win.
His teammate Bekele wins the gold medal,
and Gebrselassie finishes in sixth place.
(speaking English)
(man speaking English)
The men's marathon begins in Tiananmen Square.
It's a clear, warm day,
perfect weather for a summer marathon.
Samuel Kamau from Kenya wins,
with an Olympic record time of two hours, six minutes and 32 seconds.
- (man shouting) - (whistle blowing)
Hi.
NARRATOR: : When American BMX rider Kyle Bennett arrives in Beijing,
he goes straight into training,
but instead of sticking to the track, he tries a different kind of cycling
in the lakeside neighborhood of Hou Hai.
Yeah, it's awesome.
We're doing a little cross-training, you know, before the race.
Warming my legs up here on the bike. It's been good.
MAN: The extra payday don't hurt, that's for sure.
NARRATOR: After the men's seeding phase, Bennett qualifies for the quarterfinals.
ANNOUNCER: Here we go. Get ready for the start call.
We've got it.
(announcer continues, indistinct)
BENNETT: I think it -
- MAN: Does it hurt back here? - BENNETT: No, I'm fine. I'm good.
- Okay. That's good. - I can get up.
- How 'bout here? - I can get up now.
Let me just get up. Let me get up.
Let me get up. I'm all right. I'm all right. I'm all right.
You wanna walk?
(crowd cheering)
- How does that feel? - I'm good.
Have you seen my shoes? I'm gonna ride the track.
- Put my helmet on. - Why?
- 'Cause... I wanna ride the... - Sure.
(man speaking Chinese language)
ANNOUNCER: Let's hear it for Kyle Bennett!
(crowd cheering)
NARRATOR: Bennett's grandfather, Don Collins,
remodeled an old bike for him
and took him to his first BMX track when he was seven years old.
Collins nurtured his grandson's interest in the sport,
building him a dirt track in the backyard
and driving him to competitions all over the country.
My dad died when I was, like, six years old,
and I've just been raised by my grandparents my whole life.
I've been kind of successful at my sport
because my grandpa, he's always just let me, you know, have fun at it.
Never been a lot of pressure.
If he don't win, I'll still love him.
I'm still behind him.
Never give up.
BENNETT: You know, definitely, a dream would be to get a gold medal,
but, I mean, it's just - just being a part of the whole thing,
you know, BMX, it's the first time in the Olympics,
it's, you know, enough for me.
I'm just happy just being a part of the whole thing.
NARRATOR: The founder of the modern Olympic Games,
Baron Pierre de Coubertin,
once said,
"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning,
but taking part.
The essential thing in life is not conquering,
but fighting well."
The athletes at the Beijing games live and breathe this truth,
even as they focus their every thought and action
on the competition.
(horn blows)
Dutch swimmer Maarten van der Weijden,
wins the men's ten-kilometer swimming marathon.
It's a sweet moment of victory for Van der Weijden,
a survivor of leukemia that nearly ended his career in 2001.
Luan Jujie became the first Chinese fencer
to win a gold medal in 1984.
Now a Canadian citizen,
the 50-year-old has undergone years of rigorous training
to qualify for the 2008 Olympics.
Competing once again in her native land,
she brings her brilliant career to a fitting close.
(shouts)
Athens silver medalist Lee Bae Young of South Korea
tears his left calf muscle
during his first attempt at a 184-kilo clean and jerk.
But he presses on with two more attempts.
(crowd cheering)
(crowd chanting, clapping)
(shouts)
Hi! Hello.
Beijing has always been a bustling urban center,
but now the entire city has been taken over
by Olympic fever.
Over seven million tickets have quickly sold out,
and enormous crowds of spectators fill the streets
in the sweltering summer heat.
- (whistle blowing) - (crowd cheers)
(cheering)
In every corner of the world,
people are riveted to their TV sets.
Fans everywhere feel the joy and the pain of their favorite athletes,
but both competitors and spectators know that the essential thing
is not conquering, but fighting well.
(no audible dialogue)
- (crowd cheering) - (shouts)
NARRATOR: In the men's 1,000-meter canoe doubles,
Tomasz Wylenzek and his teammate Christian Gille
take a second place finish.
Exhausted, Wylenzek collapses and falls into the water.
(coughing)
(phone rings)
(man speaking German)
Although he has failed to win his second gold,
Wylenzek has no regrets.
(man speaking German)
(speaking German)
NARRATOR: Because of the hardships he endured as a child,
Wylenzek has always felt a need to work harder and be stronger.
ANNOUCCER: Germany is in lane six.
(woman speaking Chinese language)
MAN: Moving into lane seven, it's Denmark.
(bell chimes)
In the 500-meter double final,
a fully recovered Wylenzek and his teammate
push towards the finish line.
These athletes know the true joy of Olympic competition -
to reach beyond their limits,
not for the gold but for the knowledge that they have fought well.
WYLENZEK:
♪♪ (dramatic orchestral)
- (shouts) - Hello!
(shouting)
♪♪ (singing in Portuguese)
MAN: To the athletes tonight...
you are true role models.
You have shown us the unifying power of sport.
The Olympic spirit lives in the warm embrace
of competitors from nations in conflict.
Keep that spirit alive when you return home.
These were truly exceptional games.
(cheering)
♪♪ (orchestra)
(cheering continues)
♪♪ (woman vocalizing, rock)
♪♪ (orchestra: Ballad)
♪♪ (orchestra continues)
♪♪ (ends)