Reader comments
Olympic venues still draw crowds long after Games are over

Grimpeur | 1:32 a.m. Nov. 23, 2008

I worked for much of the last year in Beijing as a contractor for the Olympic competitions.
The pollution levels have soared now the Games and media are gone; the effect on human rights is negligible but Chinese people and their sport have national Centres of excellence in most sports which are intensively used and visited.
I still question the decision to award the Games to a repressive regime and from experience can say that although Chinese people themselves are justifiably proud of the games staged the Games have had no influence on those in power except to give them aggrandisement and justification for perpetuating their repression.
Spare a thought for those who died in the construction of the venues due to lax safety and lack of protection and the thousands of migrant workers in poverty who laboured.
Pray also for a change of heart in leaders of nations as we have been counselled by prophets for over 30 years.

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Greg Baker, Associated Press

Schoolchildren pose for a photo during a class visit to China's National Stadium in Beijing on Nov. 21. Some 35,000 to 40,000 visitors have toured the Bird's Nest daily since the summer Olympics.