China shows flaws in being perfect

USA TODAY, August, 2008 by Kevin Johnson

BEIJING -- To listen to the International Olympic Committee is to hear that the Games of the 29th Olympiad may now represent the standard as perhaps the best-run in the history of the Olympic movement.

Completed well in advance of the opening ceremony, most of the venues were eye-popping. World records fell almost by the day. The movement of athletes and spectators was near-flawless in a city known for its paralyzing gridlock.

Operations moved so smoothly that the IOC and Beijing organizers suspended daily coordination meetings because there were no operational problems to solve. On some days, the sun even broke through the thick smog.

"Everything was run according to schedule perfectly," IOC sports director Christophe Dubi said.

But...