In Chapter 2 of Saving Face, I'm going to focus on China's quest to top the gold medal count in the 2008 Olympics. If any of you read BBC or MSN articles, I'm sure you've seen one that focuses on the rigorous training regime that these "kids" are put through (I'll explain "kids" later), and I'm sure you've heard how they are sent to special schools at very young ages to begin their training. Well, I live in China and have quite a few Chinese friends and acquaintances, I can tell you, from what I've been told by them, that is all true. What gets me, they see nothing wrong with it.
These children are not given the same education that a normal Chinese student is given, their education revolves around their assigned sport. They may spend 1 or 2 hours a day learning math and reading, but the rest of their day is sports. As a kid, I would have loved this, but as an adult and a person who taught for a year, I can say this is not preparing these "kids" for life after sports. As they grow older, sports become their jobs. A ping pong player may spend up to 10 or 12 hours a day playing ping pong. Now, don't get me wrong, I like ping pong, but after 2 games, I'm ready to move on to something else.
This leads me to the story of Liu Xiang. Liu Xiang is the Chinese hurdler who ran the 110 meter hurdles in record times in Athens and scored a gold medal. Since then, he has been a national hero and completely idolized... think of Michael Jordan in the 80's and 90's. Last week, Liu Xiang walked off the track with an achilles tendon injury. What was not told is that this injury has been present for quite a while. Liu Xiang had not ran a race since May 23 of 2008, that's almost a 3 month hiatus from a sport that requires practice to make sure you are able to keep your 3-step stride and hurdle clearing form. What was also not told is that he has suffered from reoccurring leg injuries do to a bone spur in his foot for the last 6 or 7 years. In short, Liu Xiang should not have even been entered into the race. Chinese athletes and their coaches, leading up to the Olympics, have been receiving so much pressure to win gold by the government that I'm surprised there haven't been more injuries.
Related Articles
- BBC - Heartbreak over hurdler Liu's exit
- UK Telegraph - Liu Xiang sent to Olympic death by China's £1 billion image-building exercise
Next, lets talk about the little gymnasts that could, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan, and Yang Yilin. All are suspected of being underage, and that suspicion is backed by a lot of evidence. Of course, they were entered because they were the best gymnasts the Chinese team had, however, just because they are the best, doesn't mean you can bend (who am I kidding, break is more appropriate) the rules. Now, if you run a search on these three, and read anything about their age, you will surely find an article or two that is allowing user comments on the whole situation. Read through the comments, if you have time, and you will see people from all over the world taking both sides of the argument. The ones that will stick out the most, though, will be the Chinese people defending their national pride. Pride in one's nation is a great thing, but if someone says something bad and true about a person, official, team, etc. from my country, I'm not going to defend that entity just because I share the same nationality. Wrong it wrong, it has nothing to do with what you have in common.
Related Articles
- The IOC's handling of the underage gymnast controversy is a shame
- Hacker Uncovers Chinese Olympic Fraud
- Olympic Hacking Part II - Let's go for the Gold
- Several other's from a Google Search
- Time's Online - International Olympic Committee launches probe into He Kexin's age
- CNet Asia - Passport says she's 16, Google cache of deleted site says 14
In conclusion, I'm not going to say my country is the greatest in the world. I'm not going to say I'm better than the average Zhou, Zhang, Wang, or Wu. What I am going to say is when something isn't right, don't defend it. Don't try to impress other cultures with falsities, most other cultures are more impressed with what's real, even when it's less than perfect, rather than something that's more fake than real. Winning more gold medals than every other country doesn't give your country more respect, it just means you won more gold medals. If you look at past Olympics, the US and Russia have won more gold medals than any other. However, last time I checked, the international community's opinion of the US was at an all-time low and with Russia's recent invasion and occupation of parts of Georgia, their street cred is kind of on the low side as well. If you want respect, show the world what's in your right hand while keeping your left hand open and in plain sight at all times. After all, if you have nothing to hide, there is nothing to criticize.
