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Tag: Anjali Rao

  • London 2012 CEO Sebastian Coe to talk ‘Olympics’ on CNN

    London 2012 CEO Sebastian Coe to talk ‘Olympics’ on CNN

    MUMBAI: With the 2008 Olympics now well underway, the head of London 2012 is in Beijing to find out first hand what it takes to host the Games. Former Olympics champion Sebastian Coe joins Anjali Rao on this weekend’s Talk Asia to discuss Beijing’s experience as a host city, how China has handled controversial issues, and the blueprint for the London Olympics. The special airs on 16 August at 8:30 pm and on 17 August at 6:30 pm.

    Since being awarded the Olympics, Beijing has faced its share of criticism and controversy over human rights and political issues. Lord Coe believes international sports have enormous impact: “It’s a powerful vehicle for bringing communities together in a way that sometimes politicians don’t manage to do.” He adds however that it should not replace political dialogue: “We must never forget the power and the impact that international sport has had often in transformation, in helping with the process of change…but it is not the first line of foreign policy.”

    The former British politician does not shy away from criticism of London hosting the next Olympics. “You are never going to win the hearts and minds of everybody. Our regular polling shows that well over 70 percent of people in the UK are solidly behind this project,” he says. Indeed, he believes that hosting the Olympics in one’s own backyard can “inspire young people to do things that perhaps they hadn’t thought about.”

    The sporting legend is looking forward to the August 24 closing ceremony when London will be handed the Olympic mantle. This moment is of extra significance to Coe as this is the opportunity for London to showcase to the world what the city will expect to deliver in 2012: “We will have a very global moment in Beijing and that is the eight minutes that London will have in the closing ceremony.”

  • CNN unveils plans for Olympics coverage

    CNN unveils plans for Olympics coverage

    MUMBAI: With the Beijing Olympics kicking off in less than a month’s time, news broadcaster CNN is to feature live coverage from the Chinese capital over more than three and a half weeks on air, online and on mobile. Led by the network’s bureau in Beijing since 1986, correspondents including John Vause, Anjali Rao, Jaime FlorCruz, Larry Smith and Mark McKay bring the world’s biggest sporting event from every angle to more than 220 million households around the world.

    Countdown Beijing is CNN’s week of special programming airing in the run-up to the opening ceremony that takes the daily pulse of the city’s excitement and expectation. Every weekday from 4 August John Vause and Anjali Rao anchor parts of live shows from the iconic capital while extensive special reports also feature.

    They focus on aspects including the 500,000 people working on security during the games, the huge enthusiasm amongst the Chinese population as the games approach, concerns over pollution for athletes and visitors alike, getting tough on doping athletes or how Beijingers are opening up their homes to tourists for ‘homestays’. Packages are viewable online at www.cnn.com/olympics and come from across China, including Hong Kong on equestrian facilities and anti-doping measures and from Sichuan Province on feelings among the quake survivors as the Olympic Torch passes through.

    As part of Countdown Beijing, the Hong-Kong produced show Talk Asia also features in-depth interviews with Olympic giants. Literally, on the one hand with Houston Rockets and China basketball superstar Yao Ming. British athletics great Sebastian Coe and internationally-acclaimed artist (and director of the Olympic fireworks) Cai Guo-Qiang also figure amongst the stellar line-up. CNN hears too from some of the not so famous people involved, from taxi drivers to tourists, souvenir vendors to tourism greeters.

    From 8 August onwards when the Games officially open, correspondents Mark Mckay and Larry Smith are to bring the latest developments in the quest for gold in more than 300 events, in dedicated live editions of the network’s signature sport program ‘World Sport’.

    Online, www.cnn.com/Olympics boasts a wide range of exclusive videos and written reports featuring stories from across China and beyond. Olympics dispatches from around the world and journals from local citizens and overseas athletes alike bring to life the Olympic dream as thousands prepare for the biggest day of their sporting lives.

    The new ‘Fanzone’ section, www.cnn.com/fanzone brings video, quizzes, interactive games, polls, in-depth reports and more, while no matter where you are in the world, through the iReport function sport fans can send in their photos and videos of experiences in and around the XXIX Olympiad. Additionally, www.cnnsi.com delivers more than 150 original new sports stories to users every week and boasts one of the most comprehensive archives of any sport website. Finally, CNNmobile will be launching soon a free new service to catch the latest Olympics action.