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Cosmopolitan New York shares Beijing´s Olympic glory

Source: Xinhua | 08-26-2008 08:20

Special Report:   2008 Beijing Olympic Games

NEW YORK, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The extinguishing of the Olympic flame may have drawn the curtains on the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but the heat it generated is yet to die down.

In New York, a cosmopolitan city that accommodates people of different races and cultures, the Beijing Olympiad has been widely watched and talked about, and will surely be remembered for a very long time.

Around 8 p.m. Eastern Time (2400 GMT) Sunday, many people stopped at NBC's big screen in bustling Times Square on Manhattan Island to watch the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. To them, the extravaganza was just another example of all-around excellence shown by the host nation.

"China did a great job," said Cameron and Megan Lynch from Australia who have been following the Games closely and did not mind comparing the Beijing Olympics with the 2000 Games in Sydney.

"Everything - the organizing, the venues, the environment (in Beijing) - all went so smooth, no trouble, no problem. We've been enjoying it," they said.

"Sports (in China) is good. The country is very progressive, and we've seen more technologies in this Olympics. We're happy that Russia is third on the gold medal chart, but China did better," said Russian students Grigory Kulikov and Eduard Galiullin, who are holidaying in New York.

The fact that China topped the gold medal chart was the most impressive event for Saurabh Gujarati, an Indian student doing his Ph.D at Michigan State University. "It is a spectacular feat by China. I hope India can do the same one day."

Some sports fans noticed that the host country had made progress in some events that are not China's traditional strong fields. Local high school students Dontaye Cerda and George Ayala praised the Chinese baseball team, which had put up a fierce fight against the U.S.