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Back to To the Point

To the Point

The Beijing Olympics: Promises and Realities

"Beijing Welcomes the World" is the slogan everywhere in China's capital with the Summer Olympic s scheduled to start just over a month from today. In order to get the Games, China promised it would be clean, green and accessible, but not all its commitments are being kept.

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By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

"Beijing Welcomes the World" is the slogan everywhere in China's capital with the Summer Olympics scheduled to start just over a month from today. In order to get the Games, China promised it would be clean, green and accessible, but not all its commitments are being kept. Some $40 billion in US dollars have been spent on space-age venues and infrastructure, including the world's largest airport. But competitors are worried about air pollution; tight new visa requirements are keeping travelers away and media coverage may be severely restricted. We hear about those issues and ask which athletes are the ones to watch. How's the US expected to do? Are the Olympics always as much about politics as athletics?

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

  • KCRW placeholder

    Katie Cooper

    Producer, 'One year Later'

  • KCRW placeholder

    Karen Radziner

    Managing Producer, To the Point & Which Way LA?

  • KCRW placeholder

    David Wallechinsky

    International Society of Olympics Historians

  • KCRW placeholder

    John Hoberman

    University of Texas at Austin

  • KCRW placeholder

    Rebecca Blumenstein

    Wall Street Journal

    NewsNationalPolitics
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