China Wins In The Spectacle Of The Olympics, But Fails Where It Counts Most - Page 2
The age controversy is just the tip of the iceberg of failure by the Chinese government in relations to the Olympics. Far worse than the the Chinese cheating by entering underage girls into competition, is the nation's history of FORCING athletes to participate in the Olympics against their will. And China knows as a country, it values nationalistic pride over individual rights:
Being little is a big advantage in women's gymnastics, where controversies over undersized waifs and child abuse forced a change in the minimum-age rules. But being Chinese is an advantage these days too. "The Chinese race knows how to endure hardship," one Chinese gymnastics coach told Time magazine in 2004. "Our job is to push these kids to their limits, so they can perform gloriously for our nation."
Unlike the voluntary sacrifices other nation's athletes make in order to participate at the highest level of competition, there is something so deeply and inherently wrong in making these young people force their bodies to contort, bend and develop in ways against nature without their consent from the age of THREE.
The Beijing Olympics have been executed beautifully, and the spectacle of it all is tremendous, but this human rights violation AGAINST CHILDREN, is above all a stain on all of humanity.
Though many will argue that the children's participation is a windfall for the entire family, many of whom come from abject poverty, the overall dullness of joy in their faces, compared to the young athletes who are there because they WANT to be there, is evident to me.
Depriving people of their free will not only diminish the competitive spirit of the Olympics, but also the human spirit. China still has a long way to go before they can feel genuine pride in competing in the one race that really matters; the human race.
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