In her Asia Rising column, Melinda Liu writes on the debate in China about the country's obsession with bringing home the most Olympic gold medals:
China's
shock—some called it "mourning"—over champion hurdler Liu Xiang's
withdrawal due to injury Monday from the Olympics is bigger than a
single athlete, albeit a very charismatic one. His dramatic pullout has
roiled discussion on a number of delicate subjects, from government
transparency (or lack thereof) to flaws in the Soviet-style sports
system to sponsors' pressures on athletes—and most importantly to
China's obsession with a home-team Olympic "Gold Rush." Officials and
citizens alike had made little attempt to conceal their goal of winning
the most gold medals at these Games, supplanting the American sports
superpower as No. 1, at least in golds. Liu's anticipated gold had been
seen as special; it symbolized the rare example of an Asian's ability
to dominate a track and field event.
But instead of
grabbing gold, Liu hobbled off the track. Now the current period of
soul-searching "is a good opportunity to debate this 'Gold Rush'," says
Dong Jun, an announcer from the Beijing
Games organizing committee. He believes it's time to re-examine the
centralized and elitist "going for gold" approach. At the other end of
the spectrum is what Chinese call the "sports for all" attitude that
would treat athletes less like robots and more like, well, people who
play sports because it's fun.
READ THE FULL COLUMN HERE
