China Resource Center

Bible not allowed at 2008 Olympic Games?

We were quite surprised when we first read the news stories that the Bible was on a 'prohibited items' list at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. After doing some simple investigation, we found out that the story was not true. We emailed the U.S. Olympic Committee to see what they knew. Here is their response:

We have received confirmation from both the International Olympic Committee and the Beijing Organizing Committee that the Bible and other religious materials will be permitted in the Athletes Village for personal use.The news reports that the Beijing Organizing Committee was considering a prohibition were completely incorrect and stemmed from a miscommunication between a journalist from

Italy

and a representative of the organizing committee.In addition, there will be an area in the Athletes village where athletes, coaches and officials can worship - as is always the case at the Olympic Games.