Editing 2008 Summer Olympics (section)

== Legacy ==
[[File:Pebetero de Beijing 2008.JPG|thumb|right|Beijing 2008 cauldron in 2013]]
The 2008 Summer Olympics have been generally accepted by the world's media as a [[logistics|logistical]] success.<ref name="legacy1">{{cite news |last=Skalij |first=Wally |title=Beijing Olympics were logistically successful and sneaky, too |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-aug-24-sp-olyplaschke24-story.html |newspaper=LA Times |access-date=29 August 2008 |date=24 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624095617/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/aug/24/sports/sp-olyplaschke24 |archive-date=24 June 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Many of the worst fears about the Games failed to materialize: no terrorists struck Beijing; no athlete protested at the podium (though Swedish wrestler [[Ara Abrahamian]] tossed his bronze medal in disgust over judging); and the air quality, despite being the worst in Olympics history, was not as bad as many had feared beforehand – due largely to favorable weather patterns.<ref>{{cite web|title=China Launches Olympic-Size Headache |date=20 August 2008 |url=http://www.nysun.com/foreign/china-launches-olympic-size-headache/84259/ |access-date=31 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829000445/http://www.nysun.com/foreign/china-launches-olympic-size-headache/84259/ |archive-date=29 August 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Beijing Olympics were the most polluted games ever, researchers say |date=22 June 2009 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/london2012/5597277/Beijing-Olympics-were-the-most-polluted-games-ever-researchers-say.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=26 June 2009 |first=Alastair |last=Jamieson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626074823/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/london2012/5597277/Beijing-Olympics-were-the-most-polluted-games-ever-researchers-say.html |archive-date=26 June 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Many in China viewed the Olympics as "an affirmation of a single [[nationalism|nationalistic]] dream" and saw protests during the international torch relay as an insult to China.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Olympic-Games-all-about-China-Chinese-3274954.php|title=→Beijing Olympic Games all about China, Chinese Leaders keen to impress, inspire their own people|last=April Rabkin|date=1 August 2008|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=17 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119225630/http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-08-01/news/17121901_1_international-olympic-committee-s-choice-beijing-torch-protests|archive-date=19 November 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> The Games also bolstered domestic support for the Chinese government, and for the policies of the [[Chinese Communist Party|Communist Party]], giving rise to concerns that the Olympics would give the state more leverage to suppress political [[dissent]], at least temporarily.<ref name="legacy2">{{cite web|last=Gardner |first=Dinah |title=China's Olympic legacy |date=25 August 2008 |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/beijing08/2008/08/20088255274440438.html |access-date=29 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829090422/http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/beijing08/2008/08/20088255274440438.html |archive-date=29 August 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> Efforts to quell any unrest before and during the Games also contributed to a rapid expansion in the size and political clout of China's [[Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China|internal security forces]], and this growth continued through the following years.<ref>{{cite news|title=China's new rulers, Princelings and the goon state, The rise and rise of the princelings, the country's revolutionary aristocracy|date=14 April 2011|url=http://www.economist.com/node/18561005|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=22 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623041351/http://www.economist.com/node/18561005|archive-date=23 June 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Reports also indicated that the Olympics boosted the political careers of pro-Beijing politicians in Hong Kong, as many Chinese gold medal winners campaigned on behalf of the pro-Beijing [[The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong|DAB]] during the [[2008 Hong Kong legislative election|2008 election]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Democrats perform well despite 'Olympic factor' in Hong Kong elections |date=8 September 2008 |url=http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/democrats-perform-well-despite-olympics-factor-in-hong-kong-elections_10093389.html |access-date=6 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321210103/http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/democrats-perform-well-despite-olympics-factor-in-hong-kong-elections_10093389.html |archive-date=21 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> although any trend towards greater identification by [[Hong Kong people|Hong Kongers]] with mainland China appears to have been short-lived.<ref>{{cite news|last=Higgins|first=Andrew|title=China denounces 'Hong Konger' trend|date=11 January 2012|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-denounces-hong-konger-trend/2012/01/10/gIQAmivNqP_story.html|access-date=22 July 2012|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604200828/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-denounces-hong-konger-trend/2012/01/10/gIQAmivNqP_story.html|archive-date=4 June 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some sectors of the Beijing economy may have benefited from the influx of tourists. Other sectors such as manufacturing lost revenue because of plant closings related to the government's efforts to improve air quality. Four years after the Games, many of the specially constructed facilities were underused or even deserted.<ref>{{cite news|last=McDonald|first=Mark|title='Ruin Porn' — the Aftermath of the Beijing Olympics|date=15 July 2012|url=http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/ruin-porn-the-aftermath-of-the-beijing-olympics|access-date=21 July 2012|work=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120719133617/http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/ruin-porn-the-aftermath-of-the-beijing-olympics/|archive-date=19 July 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> It is generally expected by economists that there will be no lasting effects on Beijing's economy from the Games.<ref name="legacy5">{{cite news|title=Beijing's economy – Going for gold |date=25 August 2008 |url=http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920899 |access-date=29 August 2008 |newspaper=The Economist |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828170049/http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920899 |archive-date=28 August 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref>