John Kenny's Olympics 2008 Blog

By RTÉ's John Kenny, in Beijing

The great exodus of RTÉ personnel and Irish athletes has begun with the bulk of those involved in either broadcasting to, or representing, Ireland now either on their way to Beijing or have set up camp in China.

For the track-and-field athletes it's a quick stop over before moving to a camp in Japan and then returning to the Olympic city as their competition doesn't start until the second week.

The swimmers have begun their build-up at the Aquatic Centre and the likes of Ireland's Andrew Bree and the bulk of the world's top swimmers such as Michael Phelps and Laura Manadou, of whom great things are expected, are in action from day one along with the first of Ireland's boxing quintet.

Before our departure, there was a couple of days of mild panic for one of the RTÉ Radio commentators when they discovered that their accreditation number didn't match that of their passport. This necessitated visiting the Chinese embassy in Dublin on three consecutive days.

At the last moment the problem was sorted out and they were on their way, but we are hearing stories of a couple of Irish competitors who are still in Frankfurt in Germany while their accreditation is sorted.

No Visa, No Games

The Olympic Games is not simply a case of turning up and showing your press card to those at the gate. There is a long application process and one's accreditation is also a working visa. No Visa, no entry, no Games - it's as simple as that.

This will be my third games following Atlanta and Athens and I've landed a role as RTÉ Television's swimming and diving commentator and, along with Nick O'Hare, the former Irish Olympian, will bring live coverage of the swim meet from the '2Cube' in Beijing.

It's an honour to be covering a sport I've been a part of since I first covered the National Swimming Championships in Bangor back in 1987, and we hope that we will do the sport justice when the likes of Phelps lines up in his bid to break Mark Spitz's individual haul of seven gold medals which he won in the 1972 games in Munich.

Phelps has already won six golds in the Athens games and will almost assuredly pass Spitz's total haul of nine gold in the pool (Spitz won two relay golds in Mexico in 1968) and the great American is tipping Phelps to win eight in Beijing as the wonder swimmer targets five individual and three relay titles.

Tom Daley

I'm also looking foreword to the diving and 14-year-old British sensation Tom Daley, who will compete in the 10-metre individual and synchronised events.

Watch out for Daley. He may not win a medal, but because of his age, he will be one of the talking points of the 2008 Olympics.

Drugs have already raised their ugly head with seven Russian athletes already banned for tampering or switching urine samples while the controversy over the Speedo LZR suit, which they say is directly responsible for the over 30 world records in the pool since last February, is also going to be one of the biggest talking points of the games.

FINA, the world governing body of swimming, has allowed the suit to be used, despite the fact that many claim that it's a flotation device and is an aid to faster times.

Gary Hall Jr, the US swimmer and a winner of 10 medals in his time, reckons that the sit is just a cover for something more sinister in the pool.

Rules

Finally, in readiness for the influx of over 500,000 visitors to Beijing, the Chinese authorites have made a list of rules which will apply over the course of the two weeks.

A battery of surface-to-air missile launchers are being deployed around the showpiece sites and Beijing has also apparently learnt a lesson from the 1988 Seoul Olympics and dog meat is off the menu.

Anyone hoping to grab cheap pirate movies or music could be in for a disappointment as Beijing authorites have announced a round-the-clock drive to stamp out bootleg sellers. They have also booted out many of the migrant workers who worked on the stadia and told them they cannot return until after the games.

Ah the Olympics, so many athletes and competitors in one place and the spotlight of the world upon them and indeed the Chinese themselves.

Controversy, you can bet, will not be far behind.