Wow did you see that opening ceremony?

"Wow did you see that opening ceremony?" I have lost count of how many people have asked me that over the past few days. "No", I have replied; I am boycotting the Olympics, except for watching all of the sports coverage of course.

Yesterday I read that:

"Beijing Olympic 2008 opening ceremony giant firework footprints 'faked' "

Apparently:

"As the ceremony got under way with a dramatic, drummed countdown, viewers watching at home and on giant screens inside the Bird's Nest National Stadium watched as a series of giant footprints outlined in fireworks processed gloriously above the city from Tiananmen Square.

What they did not realise was that what they were watching was in fact computer graphics, meticulously created over a period of months and inserted into the coverage electronically at exactly the right moment.

The fireworks were there for real, outside the stadium. But those responsible for filming the extravaganza decided in advance it would be impossible to capture all 29 footprints from the air.

As a result, only the last, visible from the camera stands inside the Bird's Nest was captured on film.

The trick was revealed in a local Chinese newspaper, the Beijing Times, at the weekend."

Now we know that the Chinese have faked part of the opening ceremony coverage, and are accused of faking the Beijing pollution statistics, I wonder what else might be being faked in these Olympics. Will the boxing judging be as fair as it was in Seoul? Will the gymnastics judging be entirely fair? Are we sure that the swimming pool, where world records are being broken quite regularly, is exactly the right length?