Can't be bothered to check, but I'm guessing that's more journalists than athletes. I know the BBC are sending many more presenters etc than the UK is sending athletes. And the BBC travel at my expense!

It's hard to believe that there are that many journalists in the whole world, let alone that many (a) who can be spared from other duties reporting on "real news," and (b) for whom their employers are willing to pay what will undoubtedly be some pretty hefty travel expenses on such a boondoggle.

Now, the next question: are that many journalists going to Beijing merely because it's a chance to visit the "mysterious orient" at company expense, or because the Olympics are really that much of a draw? If it's the latter, just wait until London in 2012! The place will be a madhouse. Probably a good time to be out of town.

Not just the bars, I suspect.

Well there are journalists and journalists Laird.
The news ones will not be sent to cover sports now will they!Well unless some terrorist outrage ensues.
Anymore than you expect Johnathan Davies or Des Lynam to turn up on the Afgan border covering the war.
There are 205 Nations taking part, and rather a lot of events. So actually the figure isn't that unreasonable.
But hey go with the flow eh?

Whimps the lot of them!

I covered the Glastonbury Festival twice in the late 70s early 80s, all on my todd, with just one lensman.
(But this is utterly impossible now) :-)

Do people honestly even care about the Olympics any more? I bow to no man when it comes the nationalistic dick waving, but don't we already have a method of sorting out which nation is better than another?

I thought it was called war.

There are 205 nations taking part in the Olympics? Is that correct? Seriously, I thought the total count of nations on this planet was about 180. Where did all these others come from?

The Beeb's contribution to the jamboree is 437 journalists, up 33 from the number that went to Greece. How many British athletes are going?

Laird: The United Nations has 192 member states at the moment. There are a couple of countries or near-countries that for various reasons are not members, most notably Taiwan and Palestine. (Some will disagree that these are countries, but that is the point). Both of these places have Olympic teams, however.

However, the International Olympic Committee takes a laxer definition of a "country" than many other international organisations, so territories of countries that administratively and/or historically separate from the bulk of the nation often have separate Olympic teams. For instance, Hong Kong has a separate team from China, and Puerto Rico a separate team from the United States. A few more of this kind of thing gets you 205 Olympic "nations"

I hear that the Chinese have installed spy-ware in all hotel computers. Just in case any of the foreign journalists there tries to report that the Chinese gymnasts are still in possession of their baby teeth.

More than likely Walter.

They are already doing this

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080729/ap_on_re_as/oly_china_internet_blocked

Now were are those nice folk from Another Voice of China, for an explanation when you need them.

22,000? Doesn't that outnumber the athletes?