The 2008 Summer Olympic Games, held in Beijing (People's Republic of China), are officially known as the 'Games of the XXIX Olympiad.' No games were held in 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to World Wars. The first Modern Olympic Games were held in 1896.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics, the XXIX (29th) Olympic Games, had its official opening ceremony on 8 August 2008 and its official closing ceremony on 24 August 2008.

The official opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics was on 8 August 2008; however, football started on 6 August 2008.

Hu Jintao, the President of the People's Republic of China, officially opened the Beijing Olympics on 8 August 2008.

The Olympic slogan for the 2008 Beijing Olympics is 'One World, One Dream.' It appeals to the world to unite in the Olympic spirit.

The mascots of the 2008 Beijing Olympics are the five Fuwa or 'good luck dolls.' Each Fuwa has a primary color (blue, black, red, yellow and green) corresponding to one of the colors of the five Olympic Rings. The five Fuwa incoporate the Fish, Giant Panda, Fire (Olympic Flame), Tibetan Antelope, and Swallow designs. Their names are Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini. The first syllable of their names reads 'Beijing huangying ni,' meaning 'Beijing welcomes you."

The Beijing National Stadium, colloquially called the Bird's Nest because of its nest-like skeletal structure, is hosting the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the main track and field competitions for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The Panathinaiko Stadium was the venue for the first modern Summer Olympics in 1896 at Athens and is the only major stadium in the world to be built totally of white marble. The ancient Panathinaiko Stadium features on the medals awarded at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

For the first time in Olympic history, the medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics had an inlaid disc of jade (known as the 'Imperial gem' in China). The back side of the medal carries a metal centerpiece engraved with the Beijing Olympic emblem and is inlaid with jade from China's western plateau province of Qinghai.  The gold medal uses a light jade, the silver medal uses a greenish-white jade, and the bronze medal uses a green jade.

Li Ning, China's most-decorated gymnast, won six medals (3 gold medals, 2 silver medals, and 1 bronze medal) at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games (China's first Olympics).

Lopez Lomong is a Sudanese-born American track and field athlete who became a U.S. citizen in 2007.  Lopez was the flag bearer for the United States at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he qualified in the 1500 meters.

Totally over 11000 atheletes competed in 302 events in 28 sports at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Michael Fred Phelps of the USA won eight swimming gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He holds the record for the maximum number of gold medals at a single Olympic Games in the history of the Olympics surpassing the earlier record of Mark Spitz, who won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Alexander Nikolaievich Dityatin, the great Russian gymnast, won eight medals (3 gold medals, 4 silver medals and 1 bronze medal) at the 1980 Moscow Olympics to set an Olympic record for the most medals at one Olympic Games. Michael Fred Phelps, the great American swimmer, won eight medals twice (6 gold medals and 2 bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and 8 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics) to equal Dityatin's record for the most medals at one Olympic Games.

Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter nicknamed 'Lightning Bolt', won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by setting a new Olympic 100-meters record with a time of 9.69 seconds.

Constantina Diṭă-Tomescu, the Romanian long-distance runner, got the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She won the women's marathon in 2 hours, 26 minutes and 44 seconds to become the oldest marathon champion in Olympic history at the age of thirty-eight years.

In the women's pole vault event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia won the gold medal clearing 5.05 meters, Jennifer Stuczynski of USA won the silver medal clearing 4.80 meters, and Svetlana Feofanova of Russia won the bronze medal clearing 4.75 meters.

In the men's singles tennis event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Rafael Nadal of Spain won the gold medal, Fernando Gonzalez of Chile won the silver medal, and Novak Djokovic of Serbia won the bronze medal.

In the women's singles tennis event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Elena Dementieva of Russia won the gold medal, Dinara Safina of Russia won the silver medal, and Vera Zvonareva of Russia won the bronze medal.

Abhinav Singh Bindra, the Indian shooter, became India's first individual Olympic gold medallist after 108 years by winning the 10 meter air rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Liu Xiang, one of China's biggest icons, was China's first men's track and field gold medal winner in the 110-meters hurdles champion from the 2004 Athens Olympics, but failed to start in his hurdles heats at the 2008 Beijing Olympics due to injury. Liu Xiang was on Time magazine Asian edition's cover of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

In the 2008 Olympics, the equestrian events were held in Hong Kong (and not Beijing) because of 'uncertainties of equine diseases and major difficulties in establishing a disease-free zone.' In the 1956 Olympics, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden (and not in Melbourne, Australia).

In the 2008 Olympics, a few events were not held at Beijing.  The sailing events were held in Qingdao, the equestrian events were held in Hong Kong, and the football events were held in Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Tianjin.

Chris Hoy, the most successful male cyclist became the first Briton in 100 years to strike triple gold in a single Olympics at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Stephanie Rice, the Australian swimmer currently holds the world record in the 200 meters and 400 meters individual medley and has won 3 Gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Ma Lin won gold in both the singles and team Table Tennis competitions. He currently holds a record of 4 World cups and 3 Olympic golds.

Zou Kai, the Chinese gymnast won 2 individual Gold medals in the Floor Exercise and Horizontal Bar events and 1 Gold medal in the men's team event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Tirunesh Dibaba, the double World champion from Ethiopia won Gold in both the women's 5000 meters and the women's 10000 meters events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Guo Jingjing from China became the most successful female diver in Olympic history with six medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

USA was ranked first after winning 110 medals altogether (36 gold, 38 silver and 36 bronze) at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

China won 51 gold medals (21 silver and 28 bronze) and was  ranked second after winning 100 medals altogether at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.