Basketball

Beijing has been in the forefront time and again for its world politics, cultural and traditional aspects, for its historical sites and Great Wall and Forbidden city, for its cuisine and tourists spots. This time it is in the news for a totally different reason. It is the time of the 2008 Summer Olympics and Beijing has been the chosen venue of the Olympic Boards.

The city is all set for this mega event and is said to spend an estimated sum of 37 billion dollars. The state of the art stadiums, sports equipments, best of hotels for the players, and the latest technologies are said to be incorporated in this Olympics. Basketball has been one of the most important events in the Olympics for 36 years now.

The game of Basketball started in United States way back and the country holds a monopoly over this game. It took a new turn when in 1972 United States were defeated by Soviet Union. 1992 Barcelona Olympics United states featured some of its best players like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and went on to take the long awaited medal home. Women's Basketball featured much later in the Olympics in 1976. The Gold medals have been divided between USA, Soviet Union and Australia comes as a close 3rd contender.

Basketball made its initial appearance in the Olympics way back in 1936. The game has huge fan following not only in United States but also in Soviet Union and Australia. The National Basketball League is supposed to be the strongest team in the world. Basketball features as the reigning game in all US collages and high schools. But with so many countries vying for the gold medal in Basketball in the Olympics, USA 's task is becoming ever difficult.

In Basketball a team consists of 5 players inside the court and 5 others sit outside the court that could be used as substitutes during the game. Height is one of the pre dominant factors in this game. The taller you are, the easier it is for you to score. You cannot come in contact with the body of the opponent player at any time. If you do it is considered a foul. In 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics there are two events in Basketball- Basket ball men and Basketball women. The schedule for Basketball events have been fixed from Aug 9th to 24th at Wukesong Indoor Stadium

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