The 2008 Summer Olympic Games get under way Friday with the lighting of the Olympic flame in Beijing, launching 16 days of competition by the best athletes in the world.

Let's hope the real meaning and spirit of the competition aren't sidetracked by other considerations, mainly how the games will play out in China. The Chinese government has pledged openness and cooperation, but the devil will be in the definitions as the games proceed. As of Monday, news reports outlined concerns that still linger:

* The air quality over Beijing is not good and raises legitimate concerns that endurance events such as long-distance races may have to be moved out of the city. There is still hope that emergency measures would clear the city's air by Friday. The Chinese government has known since July 2001 that it would host the games and it's still trying to scrub the air on the eve of the opening ceremonies?

* Near Tiananmen Square in the heart of the city, police have scuffled with protesters who said they were evicted from their homes to make way for games-related development. Though the Chinese government has set aside special protest zones (involvement in Darfur, Tibet and denial of human rights in general are potential causes), the overtones of political protest loom large over the games.

* Chinese censors continued to block access to politically sensitive Web sites for thousands of foreign journalists gathered at the Olympic press center. Assurances of openness during the games ring hollow coming from a government that has never embraced freedom of the press or open access to information. We'll see how it plays out after the games begin.

This Olympic competition will likely be the most watched in history. That's another reason to feel relief when the games start, with the hope they go smoothly and without incident. NBC is the host U.S. network and in conjunction with Microsoft and other technology companies will also offer unprecedented online access

All that said, let's skip political and environmental overtones created by the Chinese government and special interests and get to the real reason for these Summer Olympic Games: From archery to wrestling, thousands of the world's most talented athletes will compete in 34 event categories for the coveted gold, silver and bronze medals.

But the Olympics are also about much more than individual competition in the sense that each athlete represents his or her country and all have proven themselves winners just to qualify for the competition in Beijing.

National pride will be on display, and for several days, a world divided by political and religious differences, comes together in the spirit of competition -- where the best man, woman or team on a given day takes home the medal.

So let's get to the business at hand. Enough of the buildup. Let the games begin.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Sarah Jenkins, Bill Lee and Karen Troianello.