The International Olympic Committee has confirmed that the
finals for the swimming and gymnastics events will be taken place
as scheduled, all in the morning.
This was disclosed in a 2008 Games schedule that was held out to
participants of the 2006 Annual Meeting of the IOC Press
Commission.
A report on the sina.com, the largest Chinese portal, said the
finals for all 32 swimming events and four gymnastics events are
scheduled between 10 and 11am (Beijing time) on the timetable to
cater for the American TV audience.
The men's basketball final has also been moved to the morning,
the prime time for the U.S.
American broadcast giant NBC asked the IOC to take the
extraordinary step of scheduling the swimming finals in the morning
in Beijing, which, since the city is 12 hours ahead of East Coast
time, would position them ideally for a live U.S. broadcast.
The move caused heated debate from sports organizations and
athletes from Australia and other countries.
(CRI September 26, 2006)