Track star Jeremy Wariner running in Adidas Eyewear.

NEW YORK --In the sixteen days of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, (Aug. 8 through Aug. 24), close to 11,000 athletes from over 200 countries and 28 different sports competed in 302 events.

For the athletes, the Games were of course an incredibly important affair. To compete for an Olympic medal is a rare opportunity; for some athletes the chance will never come again.

Such high stakes demanded high performance not only from the athletes but also from the products these athletes wore and used. Healthy vision is a necessity for all competitors, and for many of them, high-performance eyewear is too.

Vision Monday took a look at the efforts of Johnson & Johnson Inc., which is an Official Partner of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, a Worldwide Partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and a Partner of the United States Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic Team. Its Vision Care Group is working to raise public awareness for healthy vision and the company’s role in providing vision services to athletes.

This web-only series also featured other major vision-care players who had a presence at the Games. Specifically, we examined the eyewear technology of Smith Optics, Oakley, Nike Vision and the athletes that were using their products.

The Olympics, unique in its position as both an athletic and political venue, not not only provided athletes with a place to prove their skill, but it also offerend a forum for the competing countries to discuss their differences and make political statements. This can be seen clearly in this year’s Olympics in Beijing. Media has focused less on the actual athletic competitions than they have on China’s development and political relationship with the other nations, specifically its human rights record and how other nations, most notably the U.S., are confronting these facts.

Mengjie, a resident of Mudan Jiang city shares his Olympic Sprit on Wheels.

Though constant media attention may irk the Chinese government, it was more than welcome for the athletes and, subsequently, their sponsors. The Games provided a great opportunity for businesses—an extended period of time to present their products to an international market. The tremendous amount of media attention given to the Games ensured both official sponsors and sponsors of individual athletes that their products will reach the eyes of a large number of consumers.

Thus, the competitive drive found in athletes vying for the gold was also present in the companies sponsoring them, which strive to develop new technologies and put out the most advanced products to give their athletes the winning advantage.

The athletes of this year’s Games were sporting the most innovative sunglasses on the market. The numerous lens technologies and frame designs of these products are crafted for various athletic pursuits and environmental conditions. It is each eyewear producer’s hope that their products functioned as a necessary tool in the athletes they were sponsoring. -- Samuel Colon

Olympic Sprit photo courtesy of the China China Digital Times.