Togo won its first ever Olympic medal on Tuesday, when Benjamin Boukpeti picked up a surprise bronze in the men’s slalom kayak event. Now he says he’s going to visit Togo.

Excuse me?

Athletes competing for countries other than the ones they were born in is nothing new. Middle-distance runner Lopez Lomong, who left his village in southern Sudan in 1991 aged six, carried the stars and stripes into the Bird’s Nest stadium at the head of the U.S. team.

Other athletes have switched countries for different reasons, often financial (see here for a Reuters Factbox). Kenyan-born double world steeplechase champion Saif Saaeed Shaheen, for example, emigrated to Qatar for a package including a monthly stipend of $1,000 for life.

But Boukpeti, so far at least, shows no sign of actually wishing to live in the country he competes for. Born in France to a French mother and Togolese father, he has only visited the African country once, as a child, to visit his grandmother. He only decided to compete for Togo when it became clear he was too old to make it into the far more competitive French team.

After winning his medal on Tuesday, he commented that it was time he paid Togo another visit.

Boukpeti is one of five athletes competing under Togo’s flag in Beijing. Four years ago in Athens, he was one of just three.

Lamine Gueye, also born of a French mother and African father — in his case the son of one of Senegal’s most famous politicians — says the odds are stacked against African sportsmen and women.

He became the first Olympic skier from black Africa at the 1984 Sarajevo Games. He was lucky in that he was living in France at the time, relatively close to Alpine skiing resorts, and received training and help from other national teams and equipment suppliers.

But he says that stringent minimum qualification standards in some events exclude athletes from poor countries who simply can’t afford the equipment, training and investment needed to compete at the highest level.

Gueye’s book ‘Skieur Senegalais Cherche Esprit Olympique’ (Senegalese Skier Seeks Olympic Spirit), published this summer, is highly critical of restrictions he says keep athletes from poor countries out of what is billed as the world’s most inclusive sporting event.

So, is it better for poor African countries to be represented by foreign-based athletes than no athletes at all? Or is that kind of representation simply mis-representation for countries where many people struggle just to get by? Should there be stricter rules on who can compete for a country, or should national Olympic Committees in African countries be more selective?

On the other hand, should the International Olympic Committee be putting more of its funding into developing sport in poor countries?

PHOTO: Benjamin Boukpeti of Togo kisses his bronze medal after the men’s kayak single (K1) final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 12, 2008. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

Michael Phelps made the headlines once again – most of them including the word “pantheon” — as he made it three gold medals and three world records from three finals so far.

The American now has nine career Olympic gold medals to his name and will almost certainly break the record he now shares with four other athletes when he swims in two finals tomorrow.

Phelps’s achievement is extraordinary, and has set the Games alight, but to my mind there was greater excitement away from the Water Cube on day four.

The best action came during a terrific struggle in the basketball, with heavily-fancied Spain coming from behind to beat China in an overtime thriller. Perhaps Spain are trying to lull the U.S. into a false sense of security.

There were other good stories away from the pool. Togo won their first medal, in kayaking, while a Texan hunter, Walton Eller, beat an Italian policeman in the men’s double trap shooting.

There’s a new feature on the blog today. If you look to the right you’ll see a fantastic medals table “widget”. Feel free to add it to your own blog by following the “Get this widget” link.

We did another podcast, mostly about Phelps but with some interesting factoids on the Greco-Roman wrestling, and Mitch Phillips argued that you have to look outside the pool for the greatest Olympian in history. On the frothier side, I particularly enjoyed Al Himmer’s story from the basketball the other night, if only for this headline: “Step away from the crisps, sir.”

Click here to find out what that’s all about and please pop back tomorrow. Remember, comments are open on all stories here on the blog and we love to hear from you.

Kevin Fylan, Beijing

Organisers created a bit of a storm this morning when they revealed that parts of the spectacular firework display at the opening ceremony had been pre-recorded.

See this from Karolos Grohmann’s story on Reuters:

“Some footage had been produced before the opening ceremony to provide theatrical effect,” Beijing Games Executive Vice President Wang Wei told reporters.

Among the sections that were pre-produced were parts of a stunning fireworks display across the city, a series of fireworks “footprints” that led to the Bird’s Nest stadium where the four-hour extravaganza was staged.

A night-time aerial shot traced the consecutive explosions on the ground as they approached the stadium. “There were footprints of fireworks,” Wang said. “Some of them were genuinely produced. Some maybe were used from previously recorded material.”

This news clearly annoyed at least some people, judging by reaction around the Web, but does it really matter if organisers used a few tricks to ensure the TV viewing public would see a perfect show?

Wasn’t there also a suspicion that organisers of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona had a trick up their sleeve to ensure the final lighting of the Olympic cauldron (with the archer, you’ll remember) passed off without a hitch?

In any case, the opening ceremony in Beijing wasn’t even shown live in the United States… 

Beijing weather was one of the biggest stories in the run-up to the Games, and rightly so judging by the struggles of the cyclists in the men’s road race on Saturday. More than a third of contestants dropped out of the race, including one of the favourites Stefan Schumacher, who complained of a “very, very strong headache” he blamed on the pollution.

It got me wondering — why are the Games being held in August, just about the muggiest and smoggiest time of the year in the Chinese capital? What is wrong with September, or April come to that? It would not only have been cooler, but skies in Beijing are clearer too.

And it is not just about China. Marathon runners struggled and staggered with the effects of heat and pollution in Los Angeles in 1984, and there have problems with heat and air quality in most of the Summer Olympics ever since.

Looking at the history books, holding the Summer Games in the Spring or the Autumn is not such a heretical thought.

The first Games of the modern era were held in Athens in April 1896, and Tokyo and Mexico City both hosted the Summer Olympics in October, in 1964 and 1968 respectively.

Although the Chinese ended up choosing an auspicious date – the eighth day of the eight month of the eighth year — organisers admit they would have preferred to delay things for a month or so.

Ah, but it is not that simple, Reuters Olympic experts explained to me. Broadcasters really got their hooks into the Games after Mexico, and prefer dates in July or August to fill a hole in scheduling in the northern hemisphere’s summer.

But there are sporting reasons too. Any later and football clubs would be even more unwilling to release their best players — September would almost certainly have meant no Ronaldinho, no Messi.

There are other sporting events to consider too and other stars to attract, including some big names from the NBA or the tennis circuit.

But in the end, does it all just come down to money?

Tennis, football and basketball might be fun to have here (and in any case the NBA does not start until late October) but the Olympics is surely more about the other stuff — track and field, swimming, gymnastics and so on.

Doha did not make the cut in the race for 2016 partly, insiders say, because it proposed holding the Games in October.

So are we really putting up with all this muggy air just to get a few more stars at the Games and so broadcasters can make more money?

Amid all the hysteria about Chinese pollution spoiling the spectacle, it is at least worth bearing in mind what has brought us here in August in the first place.

PHOTO: The sun is seen through haze near the ‘Bird’s Nest’, ahead of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, August 4, 2008. REUTERS/Joe Chan