As the Olympics leave town, Beijing appears to be in a much better position to benefit from the games than previous Summer Olympic host Athens.
"These days, any hopeful city with Olympic aspirations must not only show its ability to provide venues and infrastructure of the highest standard, but also prove there will be a lasting positive effect on the local community."
"The 2004 Olympics in Athens showed how to get it embarrassingly and disgracefully wrong. Over the past 16 days, Beijing has shown the world how to get it magnificently right."
"Sixteen days of glory, but at what price? The Olympics are now almost a dirty word in Athens, most regularly used by politicians who use the issue of decay as a powerful campaigning point."
"Beijing is not going to let that happen. For a start, the Chinese capital has several huge advantages over Athens."
"'The reason why some countries have been challenged with economic downturns after hosting an Olympics is that hosting cities are often very small,' said Chen Jian, executive president of the Beijing Economy Research Association. 'Their investments in infrastructure construction were excessive. Fluctuations arose in the economic growth when no new hotspot for investment occurred after the Olympics.'"
Thanks to Ishmael Sanchez
FULL STORY: Beijing trumps Athens … and then some
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