JUST three days before the games begin and the Olympic Flame, one of the most enduring sporting symbols on the planet, is in danger of being extinguished.
Not by a lorry load of pharmaceuticals.
Not by the swollen backside of some testosterone fuelled female shot-putter from a former Soviet satellite.
But by an invisible trend as potent as the concoctions which will flow through some athletes veins in Beijing.
And we're not talking rice wine.
Having spent a short while in China a few years ago, I'll confidently predict that this summer's gathering will prove to be one of the most successful yet.
The facilities, particularly the 'Birds' Nest', appear stunning, but these events are about spirit, not stadia, and the People's Republic is aptly named.
Its inhabitants, in my experience at least, are warm, welcoming and hospitable and should be the perfect hosts.
Their carefree approach to time-keeping could frustrate visitors from the west. I remember coaches hired to ferry players from the team whose tour I was covering eventually being booked an hour before their actual departure time. But, for the most part, everything ran smoothly.
In every possible sense!
The dark shadow I refer to, however, has nothing to do with the Chinese and everything to do with the IOC's apparently insatiable appetite for expansion.
Twelve-bore rifle shooting and sculls might not capture the nation's imagination in quite the same way as, say, the 100 or 1500 metres.
Despite what the TV cheerleaders, sorry, celebrities turned commentators, will try to convince us if a Brit wins gold in one of those.
But at least, for the competitors concerned, that medal will be the best thing they can ever hope to achieve.
The absolute maximum.
The same cannot be said of the majority of footballers and tennis players.
Don't tell me that Salomon Kalou or Venus Williams would swap winning the World Cup or Wimbledon for triumph in China.
Delighted yes. Absolutely bowled over, no.
An Olympic title should represent the pinnacle of a sporting career.
Otherwise, if a public whose belief is already being tested by drugs scandals, could fall totally out of love with one of the greatest shows on earth.
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