Olympic oddities

IN BEIJING, ALL OLYMPIANS WILL COMPETE TO BE NUMBER ONE. HERE ARE SOME OTHER NUMBERS AROUND THE GAMES.

143,894 USD is the price for the most expensive item in the official merchandise store: a gold plate with Olympic logo (see right).

100,000 volunteers make the Beijing army of helpers the largest in Olympic history.

42,000 tons is the weight of the saddle-shaped elliptic steel structure of the Bird's Nest.

40,000 journalists will cover the 2008 Olympic Games.

18,462 people have the same name as Chinese star hurdler Liu Xiang.

15,000 couples will marry in Beijing on the day of the opening ceremony.

5,400 hours of Beijing Olympic broadcasting programmes will be produced during the Games.

5,000 RMB is the price for which a RMB10 Special Olympics Edition bank note was successfully sold.

4,500 doping tests will be conducted during the Beijing Olympic Games.

4,104 babies have been named Aoyun (Chinese for 'the Olympics') in homage to the Beijing Games.

2,425 commonly eaten Chinese dishes have been given standardised English names.

600 cheerleaders will entertain crowds with folk dancing, drum shows and martial arts.

130 days mark the longest torch relay in the history of the Olympic Games.

90 % of the solar heat energy will be trapped up to heat the pools in the Water Cube.

65 kilometres per hour is the wind force that the Olympic torch has been produced to withstand.

30 RMB is the cheapest ticket for the Beijing Olympics (Baseball team event).

5 is the highest number of mascots for Olympic Games.

4 billion people are expected to watch the Beijing Games on television.

08.08.2008, 08:08:08pm China Standard Time is the exact date when the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will officially begin. Eight is considered to be a lucky number in Chinese culture.

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