Wake-Up Call from Olympic Swimmers

Folks outside the U.S. may need someone to give them a wake-up call to watch the swimming and gymnastics events during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The International Olympic Committee has agreed to allow the swimming finals and much of the gymnastics competition to be scheduled in the morning, Chinese time. That coincides with evening in the U.S. and falls nicely into NBC’s primetime TV coverage of the Olympic Games.

Naturally, the U.S. supports the IOC’s decision, but Australia, China and Britain criticized it, arguing that the IOC put commercial interests ahead of the well-being of the athletes, who must complete several rounds of heats in the evening and compete in the final race the following morning. They also claim that schedule gives U.S. athletes a big advantage and specifically hurts the Chinese and Australian swimmers.