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BEIJING OLYMPICS 2008
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Radio 4 celebrates the Beijing Olympics 2008 with these programmes:
Claire Balding re-discovers London's 1948 Olympic Games, a world away from today's bid, but with valuable lessons to pass on.
Saturday 14 June at 8.00pm
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Garry Richardson casts a wry eye back to the early 1970s and an unusual sporting exchange which marked the beginning of the end of Chinese isolation. In 1971, table tennis players set out on a sporting adventure and succeeded in relaxing tensions between Beijing and the West.
Saturday 21 June at 10.30am
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Allison Curbishley talks to some of the men and women who are flying out to Beijing from the UK to officiate at this year's games. They are mostly volunteers and they are all passionate about their sports. Their calm decisions, wise heads and comprehensive knowledge of the rule book are essential for a smooth running, fair games. And their rulings can make the difference between a gold and silver medal, or even no medal at all.Ìý
Allison Curbishley, who competed at the Olympics in Sydney, finds out what it takes to be a good judge - from calming anxious horses in the eventing to analysing a photo finish at the end of a close race - and asks whether they get as nervous as the competitors they scrutinize.
Friday 4 July at 11.00am
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Mark Whitaker describes how, for Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Modern Olympics, sport was meaningless without the arts. At each of the games between 1912 and 1948 medals were also awarded for painting, sculpture, architecture, music and literature.
Monday 21 July at 11.00am
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Steve Cram looks back at the 1988 Olympic Men's 100 Metres Final, a race which was forever tainted by bannings, disqualifications and allegations of of drug taking and other misdeamenours.
SaturdayÌý19 JulyÌýat 8.00pm
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