Becoming Human

It sounds so cliché but the Olympics in Beijing have really stirred emotion in our house. I love to watch the competition. I've always relished rooting for my countrymen as they compete with other countries. I loved the idea of truly free Americans beating the state-sponsored, communist athletes who have been paid to train their entire lives. I love America, but something happened the other night that changed how i've looked at the competetion. A Chinese gymnast slipped on the parallel bars and kind of sat down on the bar. After his routine, as the commentators balked about how big of an error he had made, the camera got a quick shot of his face. Bewildered, shamed, embarassed, but to me their was a hint of fear. I wondered if his mishap were to cost them a gold medal what might happen to him and for a second i thought he might be thinking that too. I felt for him. I could sense the immense pressure on the Chinese athletes at this Olympics. For our athletes, like Michael Phelps, pressure is born of the expectation they've built for themselves. We expect great things of Michael Phelps because we've seen him do great things. The Chinese expect great things from their athletes because the government has set the expectation of gold, and has invested in world-class training for them, and has a vested interest in their winnings. The pressure on the Chinese athletes has different tone. It seems like more than the Olympic "Games" to the Chinese. I know there's more to write about concerning China's treatment of its citizens than what you see at the Olympics (which i'll likely address later), but if you look at the faces of the Chinese athletes that lose you'll see something of human suffering that goes beyond losing a "game." It's easy for us to root against the Chinese. Communism, awful human rights, 3 year old kids made into Olympians because of their flexibilty, speed or athleticism, but as we cheer our team who ought to remember that those on the other side are humans too. I don't want the Chinese to win because i don't want to reinforce their techniques, but i feel for their athletes and hope nothing bad happens to them.