Politics aside, 2008 Olympics worth watching

At 8:08 a.m. today, the 2008 Summer Olympics kick off in Beijing, China, amid some protest.

Some people are upset with China’s role in the genocide under way in Darfur, Sudan. The International Herald Tribune reports China purchases two-thirds of Sudan’s oil exports and has sold arms to the Khartoum regime.

Others find China’s governance over Tibet abhorrent. Protests arose in Tibet on the anniversary of the failed uprising against Chinese rule March 10. Tibetans claim more than 100 people were killed in the protest, while Chinese say 22 people died.

Then the logistics of hosting the Olympics created a furor. According to the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, 1.5 million Chinese citizens were expected to be displaced to make way for Olympic-related construction.

But the show will go on.

And it will be worth watching. For one thing, these games will be the first to be produced and broadcast entirely in high-definition television.

But the real reason to tune in is to see many of the world’s best athletes at their best participating in sports ranging from swimming, gymnastics and fencing to tae kwon do, BMX and steeplechase events.

It’s fair to say most of these sports, and their best athletes, get little attention at any other time.

One of those athletes is former Coastal Carolina University All-American and current volunteer assistant coach Amber Campbell, who missed the cut four years ago in U.S. Olympic Trials for the hammer throw.

But July 5, Campbell finished second in the hammer throw finals at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. It earned her a spot on the roster at the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing, China. The qualification round for the women’s hammer throw in China will be Aug. 18, with the finals Aug. 20.

“I knew that with so many girls in there being so talented and ready for huge throws, I knew it was going to be anybody’s game and I needed to be on top of mine,” Campbell told her alma mater. “... I am really fortunate to be able to go to Beijing with no worries.”

Like many Olympic athletes, Campbell speaks with pride and love for both her sport and her country.

Hers is among many stories that could captivate viewers in the United States alone.

Will the U.S. men’s basketball, women’s soccer and softball teams bring home Olympic gold?

Will 41-year-old mom Dara Torres medal in the women’s 50-meter freestyle swimming event Aug. 17?

Will men’s swimming phenom Michael Phelps break Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals in a single Olympiad?

Oh, sure, you’ll be able to get the answers to these questions by checking the results on the Internet or in the newspaper.

But you won’t appreciate it as much if you don’t see the history in the making.