The Beijing Olympic Village has been given the green thumbs up by the U.S. Green Building Council.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson presented the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold award to Chen Zhili, of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee at a function on Wednesday.
The award celebrates advances in environmentally friendly design and efficient use of energy.
The Olympic Village has near-zero energy buildings that generate most of their power, heating and cooling through renewable sources such as solar cells and geothermal heat pumps.
Crowd makes competition a breeze
A British weight-lifter battled through a debilitating back injury to ensure her Olympic dream did not end prematurely.
Welsh weightlifter Michaela Breeze defied obvious pain throughout Tuesday’s competition to lift a combined total of 185kg.
The back problem has been plaguing Breeze since before her arrival but she says the cheering Beijing crowd helped her get through the tournament.
Trip of their lives
The Beijing Games has attracted people from all walks of life, both healthy and no-so-healthy.
Nearly 200 members of the Shanghai Cancer Recovery Club are in the capital this week fulfilling a dream to experience the Olympics in their home country.
Setting aside two yuan a day, the group has spent the last seven years saving for the special trip, which for many is their first visit to Beijing.
Games recap
Fluid precision claims gold
Thunderous applause erupted around the National Indoor Stadium yesterday as China won its first gold in the Women’s Team Gymnastics.
Despite an earlier fall by Cheng Fei on the balance beam, the young gymnasts leapt to victory on 188.900.
Silver went to the United States and defending Olympic champion Romania took the bronze.
The US needed a near perfect final round on the floor to stay in contention, but a second dramatic fall by Alicia Sacramone handed China the victory.
Lunge holds position
German fencers lunged their way to two golds last night keeping their country’s medal haul in the top five.
Benjamin Kleibrink won the first gold, winning the men's foil with a convincing victory over Japan's Yuki Ota.
Britta Heidemann followed taking gold in the women's epee, with silver going to Romania’s Ana Maria Branza.
26-year-old Heidemann is no stranger to China having studied in Beijing and speaks fluent Putonghua.
Good things come in threes
Chinese weight-lifter Liu Chunhong got more than she hoped for after her record-smashing Olympic win on Wednesday.
Liu broke world records in both the snatch with a lift of 128 kg, and the clean and jerk with 158 kg, meaning her combined total of a massive 286 kg was record number three.
The weightlifter’s medal-winning performance sent fans in her home town of Qishan dancing in the streets.
And Liu’s proud mother has promised a bountiful serving of scrambled bean sprouts, the lifter’s favourite dish.
（英语点津 Helen 编辑）
Marc Checkley is a freelance journalist and media producer from New Zealand. Marc has had an eclectic career in the media/arts working on various projects in theatre, television, online, radio, print and film. Marc spent three months with the China Daily last year leading the online video news initiative. He returns to chinadaily.com.cn as Senior Editor and Producer for the website’s Olympic media news coverage.
Marc Checkley is a freelance journalist and media producer from New Zealand. Marc has had an eclectic career in the media/arts working on various projects in theatre, television, online, radio, print and film. Marc spent three months with the China Daily last year leading the online video news initiative. He returns to chinadaily.com.cn as Senior Editor and Producer for the website’s Olympic media news coverage.
