They say that the worst publicity is no publicity. That isn’t exactly true if you’re the host city responsible for organizing the Olympic Games.

For the past five years, Beijing 2008 has been viewed by the International media as China’s great opportunity to show itself off to the World. That’s great publicity, especially when compared to the constant negativity that surrounded Olympic preparations in Athens, where daily reports of construction delays and terror fears scared off many planning to attend. And this past year, pre-Olympic publicity seemed to focus on how little the natives of Northern Italy cared about hosting the Games, which seemed clearly evident when Italian soccer star Francesco Totti broke his foot during the Olympics and the country went into a state of utter panic.

But does the Beijing Organizing Committee view the 2008 Games as a great opportunity to impress the world? Or is there another motive? For instance, perhaps trying to prove to the International Olympic Committee that the city was a deserving host 13 years ago, when Beijing was passed over in favor of Sydney to host the 2000 Olympic Games in a decision that still remains marred in controversy.

One can only wonder what might have happened if Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates hadn’t offered $35,000 to two African IOC Members on the eve of Sydney being awarded the 2000 Games. While Coates admits to making the offer he continues to insist that it was intended as financial aid for various sports programs, others claim that the offer was masked as such.

When the Olympic bribery scandal broke in November and December of 1998, it not only left a lasting impact on Salt Lake’s Olympic victory, but several other host city elections as well. Atlanta’s tie in with longtime Olympic partner Coca-Cola had always been questioned in the wake of Billy Payne’s surprising upset over Athens for the right to host the Centennial Olympic Games. And yet, Athens was barely prepared to host the 2004 Games, leaving most of us, especially the Greeks, thankful we never had to experience the nightmare that could have been.

Nagano came under suspicion when it was reported several documents relating to various Olympic bid expenses were burned shortly after winning the right to host the 1998 Olympic Winter Games. And yet, with Salt Lake being the city’s major competition, it was completely understandable why the IOC would avoid awarding back-to-back Olympic Games to U.S. cities.

And then there was Sydney’s narrow two-vote victory over Beijing….

In 2004, while posing undercover as part of London‘s 2012 bid team, BBC reporters met with Mahmood El-Farnawani, a former Egyptian National Volleyball coach who worked on Sydney’s bid team as a consultant, earning an estimated $20,000 to $30,000 annually for his alleged services.