Posted on 08/13/2008 10:40:50 AM PDT by 2dogjoe
BEIJING (AP) -- Alicia Sacramone's foot slipped off the 4-inch-wide tightrope that is the balance beam, her body wobbling and shaking as she fought to stay upright. Another slip, this time in the floor exercise, sent her tumbling onto her back.
Mistakes of millimeters by the Americans made for just enough of an opening for the Chinese to slip through for the team gold medal in women's gymnastics Wednesday at the Beijing Olympics.
"I was surprised by the mistakes made by the U.S. team," conceded Cheng Fei, who has seen enough of the Americans the past four years to know they're made of pretty stern stuff.
Maybe too stern.
The Americans were plainly uptight, their faces scrubbed clean of emotion and looking very much like a team trying to hold on to something they didn't have instead of one gunning for gold. Their exuberance and personality - qualities just as vital as their somersaults and twists - were nowhere to be found while the Chinese let loose with abandon. They smiled. They giggled. They traded high-fives and even a chest bump.
(Excerpt) Read more at monitortx.onset.freedom.com ...
Anyway, what the Chinese government orders its children to do is not the fault of the child. These little 11 and 12 year olds have been practicing in a gymnastic factory since 3 years old, without even parents to comfort them. Their team is their family, their sport is their job. (as said in an interview last night with a Chinese athlete)
That possibility does exist. But honestly, I doubt it. Just my experience here.
Anyway, what the Chinese government orders its children to do is not the fault of the child. These little 11 and 12 year olds have been practicing in a gymnastic factory since 3 years old, without even parents to comfort them. Their team is their family, their sport is their job. (as said in an interview last night with a Chinese athlete)
It is sad I must admit. Hopefully, someday, the government will get out of engineered sports and the private sector takes it on. Both financially by corporations and by individuals aspiring on their own.
Do you ever feel like a whore shilling for China like you do?
Sorry for the tone of that last comment. Came after a long night of drinkin’.
No problem. But inebriation does reveal how someone feels about something or someone :) Alcohol removes the inhibition.
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