THE games of 29th Olympiad have now come to an end and the closing ceremony in Beijing at the weekend was every bit as spellbinding as the opening spectacle put on by host country China 16 days before.

It looks like China got all that it wanted in terms of coming out into the world as the so-called New China, ready to takes its place among the great powers of the world.

Ever since the modern Olympic movement was launched in 1896, various nations who have hosted the games have hoped to make some sort of statement to the world in regard to their international standing.

Despite claims to the contrary, despite arguments that the Olympics remain a celebration of sportsmanship and international fellowship, the games have occasionally been hijacked by host nations to either promote a specific political agenda or as a two-week infommercial promoting that country's supposed virtues and achievements to a global TV audience that now numbers in the billions.

It would be nice to believe the official Olympic motto that translates as "Swifter, Higher, Stronger" only applied to the athletes competing in the games. But too often the host countries appropriate that credo and try to apply it to the national image they are trying to project to the rest of the world.

History tells us that the early Greek city states put off their wars and other disputes just to hold these games which went on for a thousand years before the Roman Empire banned them in AD 393 as a celebration of paganism.

But international disputes have certainly coloured the Olympic experience since the games were revived in the 19th century.

The games were cancelled outright as a result of World War One (1914-1918) and World War Two (1939-1945). And even when they have gone ahead during times of so-called peace, from Hitler's Germany to the recently concluded Beijing games the sometimes heavy-handed propaganda agendas of the states holding the games have come to the fore, threatening to overshadow the athletic achievements.

Nazi Germany had hoped to use the 1936 Berlin Games as a propaganda vehicle to promote the supposed superiority of both the Aryan race and its totalitarian political structure.But Jesse Owens, the African-American track and field star and the eventual winner of four gold metals, had something to say about that.

His exploits so upset Nazi dictator Adolph Hitler that he refused to shake the African-American's hand in recognition of his athletic feats.

Jesse Owns achievements, in fact, came to symbolise the fact the modern Olympics have never been able to shut the problems of the world out in stark contrast to the spirit of the original Greek games.

The question of race-related politics has certainly made its impact felt throughout the history of the modern games. For instance, the former Apartheid state of South Africa was expelled from the Olympic movement and banned from participating in the games for its racial policy of Apartheid which was imposed on an unhappy black majority.

And in a spectacular but silent protest over America's racial situation during the heated days of the Black Power movement in the 1960s, two African-American athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, raised their hands in the clenched-fist Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City during a medal presentation ceremony.

You must remember that 1968 was the year that Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated and violent race riots broke out in many major American cities as a result. Though there was much criticism from mainstream America as a result of the athletes' demonstration of racial solidarity with those who were demonstrating in US inner cities, the two men eventually became Civil Rights icons and symbols of hope for many progressive-minded people in America.

Ironically, the two men don't speak to one another today, the unity they demonstrated at the Olympics having given way to division, discord and unpleasantness.

Each has written an account of the podium moment that contradicts the other's. Each has disparaged the other's accomplishments, exchanging barbs that belie the dignified eloquence of their silent salute. Smith describes their relationship as "strained and strange." Carlos refers to his former teammate only as "Mister Smith."

Those who know the two men can only watch, in growing frustration, as their statements seemingly contradict the salute's original meaning.

Sociologist Harry Edwards, the two sprinters' mentor at California's San Jose State University, compares their bickering to "two old men arguing in a bar an hour before closing time."

"They're almost like brothers," says journalist Dave Zirin, author of the forthcoming A People's History of Sports in the United States. "Small fights grow in stature over time and the feelings of aggrievement become so deep that no one can even remember what caused the wounds."

International conflicts have also bloodily intruded on the Olympic games.

At the Olympics held in Munich in what was then West Germany in 1972, a Palestinian terrorist group calling itself Black September (after a bitter and bloody conflict between the Jordanian government and Palestinian militants in that country was crushed by King Hussein on September 30, 1971) infiltrated the Olympic Village. The guerillas ended up seizing nine Israeli athletes at the Games after killing a coach and weightlifter representing that country. The guerillas demanded 200 Palestinians held in Israeli jails be freed.

German counter-terrorist forces attempted to end the crisis but the result was a bloody and tragic end to the siege with all of the hostage Israeli athletes, five Palestinians and a German policeman being killed.

There was some debate as to whether the games should be cancelled in the wake of the tragedy but in a decision that remains controversial to this day, the Olympic governing committee went ahead and continued the games.

The politics of the Cold War also had its impact on the games as a result of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

The West, led by the United States, boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympic games. In a predictable tit-for-tat retaliation the Soviet Union and many of its East Bloc satellite states boycotted the next Olympic games that were held in the American city of Los Angeles four years later.

In the run-up to the most recent Olympic games, it was not at all clear if China was going to escape international censure and possible boycotts as a result of its undemocratic way of doing things. But China promised that the media was not going to be restricted and the Internet was not going to be blocked when the games took place, lifting the state censorship on reporting and access to information that is a day-to-day reality for the Chinese people.

It is still not clear whether this apparent Chinese concession to openness was really acted upon in an across-the-board manner during the games.

The Internet was routinely blocked particularly when it came to websites critical of both China's totalitarian policies and its treatment of Tibet, the once-Independent Himalayan kingdom absorbed by Beijing in 1950. And journalists sent to Beijing to cover the games were not allowed to freely talk to the Chinese people and most were followed around by so-called government minders who made sure that any controversial subjects were not touched on during interviews. Before the games commenced the Chinese conducted a massive crackdown on opponents to Beijing's rule to try and preclude the possibility of any demonstrations or uprisings taking place while the Olympics were underway.

When a massive earthquake struck China a few months ago, the Communist authorities - in an unprecedented show of openness - allowed the world to see the full impact of the devastation.

They also accepted international aid during their rescue and relief efforts. These gestures stood in marked contrast to the reaction of the military government in Myanmar (formerly Burma) to the typhoon that devastated the country, with the military junta refusing to accept international help and allowing its people to suffer.

The Chinese may have got a pass from the international community and the world's media on its authoritarian policies in Tibet as a result of it allowing the rest of us to view how Beijing dealt with a huge disaster. Whether that should of been enough to cause us to avert our gazes from what's going on in Tibet is up to you to decide.

One final comment on the recently concluded games. I cannot help but feel a twinge of envy over the success of my Caribbean cousins in these games.

I'm not talking about the sporting prowess they demonstrated in China but rather their displays of national pride. The love of country demonstrated by the Jamaican athletes was particularly moving.

I only wish that my fellow countrymen in Bermuda would aspire towards that level of national pride, lighting a flame representing love of country that never goes out.

There was another observation that I made. I found myself asking where were the Africans who used to dominate track and field events?

But then I realised many of Africa's children had made their presence felt under the flags of other countries. That realisation brought with it a surge of pride and that sense of self-worth is, ultimately, what I really took away from the 29th Olympiad.