The
2008 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the
Games of the XXIX Olympiad and commonly known as
Beijing 2008, was a major international
multi-sport event that took place in
Beijing, China, from 8 to 24 August 2008. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204
National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 28 sports and 302 events (a total of one event more than the schedule of the
2004 Games). China became the
22nd nation to host the
Olympic Games and the 18th to hold a Summer Olympic Games. It was the third time that the
Summer Olympic Games were held in Asia, after Tokyo, Japan, in
1964 and Seoul, South Korea, in
1988. This was the second time the Summer Olympic Games were staged in a socialist country, after the 1980 Olympics in the Soviet Union.