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Inside the Beijing Olympics
by
Jeff Ruffolo
Copyright 2012 Jeff Ruffolo,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0942-9
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Foreword
I never wanted to write this book.
About halfway through the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games, I toyed with the idea of writing the true story of my experiences as the lone American in the senior management team of the Olympics in China and mentioned this to many of the international journalists there working covering the Games. Unanimously I was asked – no - begged to put pen to paper and let the world know what it was like to be the only American inside the Chinese Communist Government-orchestrated Olympic Games.
My reply at the time, “not a chance.”
However, as I moved on to work for two years as the Executive Advisor for The 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, the idea of sharing my Olympic experience in China remained in the frontal lobe of my skull … whispering to me “write, write, write”.
It took looming unemployment to be the catalyst.
After the 2010 Asian Games, I went to Doha to take a senior management position with the Local Organizing Committee of the AFC Asian Cup, finally returning to China in February 2011 and unemployment.
In a panic, I immediately called a good friend, Lisa Johnson, who lives in New York City. Lisa and I worked together during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and had stayed in touch ever since. Even in China where business is booming, Lisa was blunt, acknowledged my ego but realistically stated that “try as hard as you can, if you can’t manufacturer a job then don’t try.”
“You need to write the story”, said Lisa. I knew what she meant … that writing this book would keep my sanity from the endlessly torture of handing out resumes.
And so, with a collective sigh and great reluctance, I started to write.
One year later, this story is complete.
To all journalists who will leaf through the pages for that which is perceived scandalous or a criticism of the Chinese, you are looking in the wrong place. Likewise, to my hundreds of Chinese friends, from senior leaders in the Government to those steaming rice for a living, you will not find this work skewed to puffery.
There is 100% truth in everything written herein. Nothing has been held back.
It is my prayer that in reading this, you will be swept into a deeply personal experience; an adventure without road map or compass … deep into the Olympic world previously shrouded by mystery and magic.
If you are the President of the United States, Prime Minister of Great Britain and all parts in-between and seeking a primer on what it is like in China after you board your airplane and leave the PRC in your rear window - that is to say, specifically what happens behind closed doors that you and your diplomats are not and will never be privy to - then you should be taking notes and booking me for lunch in the Oval Office.
I’d like a spinach salad sans dressing … please.
Ego? Perhaps.
Realism is more to the point.
Just as Edgar Snow of the Saturday Evening Post wrote of his experiences in China during the Long March of the 1950s, this story needs to be told and so it shall.
Herein I have many people to thank, Chinese and foreigner alike (notwithstanding the stalwart Miss Johnson) but to list them all would take up another full chapter.
I thank all of you for your friendship.
Above all, I dedicate this book to my daughter, Danielle and thank her for still loving her father after leaving her and my life in America behind to come to China and be part of the greatest Olympics in history.
And now - aaaway we go …
Beijing, China
July, 2012
Chapter 1
The House on Nomar Street
The People’s Republic of China hosted the greatest Olympic Games on Earth.
Do I have your attention?
I would like to think that I did. Perhaps I should repeat it again for all of you just settling in for what I know will be a good read.
The People’s Republic of China hosted the greatest Olympic Games on Earth.
Now are you paying attention? I sure hope so because unless you have just stumbled into your favorite bookstore (in print or on-line) and opened this book thinking it is perhaps a story about geography as in saying China’s greatness is being pronounced because of its massive land mass and capability of mass producing Starbucks Coffee houses, you have perhaps advanced to learn about 1/16th of this story.
No Dear Reader, as a proud American I have no doubt that even voicing such an opening to this true story would cause many in Fargo, North Dakota or Lynchburg, Virginia to start sharpening their knifes and voodoo dolls ready to stick my likeness repeatedly for what I will relate to you in this book. But it bears repeating. Not only did China host the greatest Olympic Games on Earth.
The People’s Republic of China is the greatest nation on Earth.
***
Well I am sure that now I have you attention.
Okay, so I may be fibbing just a tad to say that China, today, is the greatest nation on Earth, but it certainly it has the potential to do so and during the 2008 Olympics, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee (BOCOG) created the platform for greatest level of global sport competition and by doing show, showed the world just what the Chinese people can accomplish. So, how do you judge the greatest found within a nation of people? Is it within in hectares of land set aside for a hotel or public works program? Or could it be in the arts; the language; the culture or perhaps the food? I can testify that what I have experienced since when I arrived in China - specifically Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou in the fall of 1999 and culminating with the 2008 Beijing Olympics and subsequent 2010 Asian Games, that China is all that and so much more.
As the sole American given the title and position of Senior Expert for the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, I personally saw the greatness of the Chinese people which was clearly evident
