From August 8th to 24th, the world's finest athletes will enter the Beijing arena for the Games of the XXIXth Olympiad. Ten thousand five hundred sportsmen and sportswomen representing 204 delegations from all five continents will compete in a total of 302 sports. For many, participation will be enough glory; for others, gold will be the only goal. Yet, all will fulfill a lifetime dream.

To follow this historic event, twenty-nine FRANCE 24 Observers from 10 different countries will bring you highlights from the Beijing Games, through their commentaries, pictures and videos. These include Philippe Gardent, part of France's 1992 Olympic bronze-winning handball team and current coach of Chambery; Fédérick Bousquet, nine-time French swimming champion; Fabrice Vettoretti, France’s current BMX coach; and Jean-Jerome Perrin, South Africa’s canoe-kayak national coach. Alongside them, sports fans will offer an amateur's point of view on the "Greatest show on Earth".

To explore the political context around one of the most controversial Games of our era, Chinese writer Qiu Xiaolong, the French journalist and author of ‘Beijing 2008: Why China has Already Won’, Luc Richard, and the director of France’s centre for research on Modern and Contemporary China, Jean-François Huchet, will discuss Beijing’s human rights record.

All of them will share their experience and opinions as a new chapter is written in the history of sport.