Underage scandal

Flickering with images of three gymnasts lining up for trophy presentation, the TV screen soon focused on the riled face of the silver medalist—the athlete of United States. When the China’s flag is lifted and the national anthem aired, He, an official proven sixteen year-old Chinese girl, sang in her much younger appearance than her teammates much less her American and European counterparts. If the relatively petite oriental body figure helps curb whispers and rave concerns, the case wouldn’t have been skeptical to the professional gymnastics Mary Lou Retton, especially when credible online and official evidences are unearthed.

The underage scandal has called into action. An outcry of stripping China’s gold medals and banning from the London games grew louder than a couple of weeks ago in the blogosphere. With evidences collected since the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the country’s long-held record of “age-falsification” is seen as proof of “cheating” it normally attempts. This time, China hardly can stand attest to a series of accusations and reprimands.

Credulous as it seems, China’s officials abruptly responded with copies of passports stating that both athletes are 16, “the minimum age for Olympic eligibility since 1997.” The latest version of explanation is due to “the misunderstanding aroused during the period which the athletes were transferred from their regional to national team.” In short, the nation refused to accept any point of challenges.

Reading through pages of reports and comments on the issue, one cannot help ask, “When will the nation come awake to its conscience?” Fake goods, lead contaminated toys and poor quality food—the nation has been notoriously dubbed as a “Fake Product factory.” Being part of the community, I share the glory from its economic success as well as its shame. Not because I suddenly turn in a mood for nationalism, but my skin color evokes an insurmountable awareness arising from the queries of the west world media. When all the local media sing praises to the greatness of the opening ceremony, technology and record-breaking number of gold medals the country clinched, little could we find is the follow-up on the case of falsification.

Maybe it’s the mainstream media’s fault(?) A great many underground websites and blogs have looked into the case closely. But that's how it reflects the ideology and thoughts of the populace. When shall this case be brought up for public discussion? When shall we not be shy away from the faults and errors our home country has done?

To be a top-tier global power demands more than a bunch of gold-coated medals, but to be ready to accept criticisms, mocks and derides from the world. Learning from mistakes, we should have become an expert with our 5k yrs of history.



http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/sports/olympics/27gymnasts.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/24/china-acknowledges-gymnas_n_120922.html