4 things to remember about the 2008 Olympics
The 2008 Olympics will end on Sunday 24th August (with the 08 Olympic football final on Saturday) and there’s been lots to talk about this time around, from the politics to the environment to the questions about age to the outstanding performances and the odd funny moments.
What will you remember most about Beijing 2008?
Here’s my top 4:
4. An Obsession With Heroes
Hundreds and thousands of athletes went to the Olympics, yet the most talked about Olympian (by far) is Michael Phelps. History remembers the winners, we adore them and elevate them to near-immortal status and Phelps was the big one this time around.
3. The Politics
To everyone who has voiced concern about China’s human rights policy, I’d say this - don’t expect a society to evolve at a pace faster than your own. You have the right to criticise whomever you want but you also have the responsibility to think for yourself - ask yourself how long it took the United States to give voting rights to women and then ask yourself if you expect China to leap 300 years forward in the space of just 1 day or even 50 years. It’s not possible. Give it time and learn to accept that people and societies evolve at their own pace. Those that don’t, perish.
2. The Smog
Or how the issue, along with the politics, disappeared once the Olympics actually started and the TV and newspapers sold the glamour and glory and pushed the controversies to the back burner.
1. The Racism
Or lack thereof. Unfortunately we live in an anally-restrictive politically correct world where calling someone black is considered wrong and making the now infamous ’slit-eyed’ gesture (slit-eyed - now that’s a demeaning word, isn’t it?) is considered grounds for being branded racist and uncivilised.
And here I was thinking that the Olympics promoted tolerance and multicultural diversity - because with that comes an acceptance that other societies have different standards and the ‘right thing’ is relative to what you believe in, not necessarily an absolute truth.
Guess they don’t tell you that when they’re airing commercials for the Olympics, eh?
Please share your most memorable moments from the 2008 Olympics in the comments, and my apologies if this was completely non-football or non-Olympian - I was never into the Olympics for the sports anyway.
Bonus Link: 50 Hottest Olympians of Beijing 2008
Ahmed -
My advice is don’t comment on international politics when you’re talking about sport, unless you want to turn the site into something more than about football. I think the point about China is that they promised to improve on their human rights record & they didn’t deliver.
If you REALLY want to talk about politics then excusing a country’s lack of progress in human rights by comparing it to the lack of progress America made on voting rights is not a strong argument. You think Americans are proud of that fact it took them so long? What about the length of time it took them to abolish slavery considering a part of their constitution is called the ‘Bill of Rights’? Why should China use American history as an excuse? If everyone thought like you did our 2 countries would still have been under British rule, to allow time for the colonialists to ‘get used to the idea’ of an independent sub-continent.
Stick to commentating on sports as much as possible my friend. It gets messy when you talk politics & takes the fun out of football.
Spiral - since this is the umpteenth time you’ve misinterpreted something I’ve said here - either I’m not speaking clearly or you’re not reading right.
All I said was this - don’t blame a country for taking time in making progress when you yourself took a lot of time. The comparison is in the rate of change, not in ‘what’s changing’ or whether anyone is ‘proud of not changing’. There are no excuses.
I expect China to evolve, Ahmed. Are you kidding? They are among the oldest (if not the) civilization on the planet. For fucks sake, they have had enough time.
I appreciate your objectivity and primarily reflective focus in this article, but seriously, come on. The violations perpetrated by the Chinese in the way of orwellian control, child labor and persecution of political dissidents are inexcusable in any context.
I’m not so sure why this article appeared on this site. I think you are a good writer, but you are too cynically minded for my tastes most of the time.
I’m not even touching the political argument. Ahmed is entitled to his opinion, but perhaps a football blog isn’t the ideal medium to share it.
Agreed. But I think you’re forgetting about a certain Usain Bolt.
Also, there’s about 2-3 days left in the Olympics. A little early to be making a “things to remember” post… :]
I will remember the Lightning Bolt.
That guy was just too fast.
Ahmed -
You’re right. I don’t know what you’re on about most of the time. So am i in a minority here? Why don’t you make it clearer when you say ‘you yourself took a lot of time’? Who are you talking about? The rest of the world in general?
The rest of the world is not hosting the Olympics. The Chinese govt has made repeated assurances on its commitment to improve its human rights record & it hasn’t acted on it. The very slogan of the Olympics was based on the idea that China would be a better place for its citizens to live in & for citizens of the world to visit. I think its a travesty that the rest of the world is in awe of China. China’s success is not based on a moral force. Its based on economic success & fear of its military power.
Why should we take it easy on China? You think change comes because people themselves realise its time for it? No. It only comes through constant criticism & sometimes the voice of that criticism needs to be raised to a loud roar for it to be heard. The Chinese govt will only change when its own citizens & the rest of the world keep demanding for it.
So no. I don’t accept that change should happen in its own time. Only people can make it happen. The only thing necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing. A melodramatic quote but i think i made my point.
Anyway, like i said before discussions like these take all the fun out of football.
Marco - remember Bolt (who can’t) but Phelps is probably ahead in the celebrity stakes…
Jordan - what Spiral said - people don’t change unless they’re forced to, so the ‘oldest civ’ arg doesn’t really mean anything. I’ll try to be less cynical
Spiral - By ‘you’ I meant everyone criticising China. I’m not defending what they do, I’m trying to put it in perspective to what goes on elsewhere. We’re arguing on two different points here - one whether China is wrong or not (I agree with you here, so no need for arguing) and two whether we should be pressuring them to change (again, I agree with you).
My *point* was that you need to look at rate of change, not compare exact positions on issues in different cultures in different regions. Seriously, just look at that, and if you think I’m wrong (if you think rate of change shouldn’t be the grounds for criticism / praise), let me know and I’ll stop blabbering
I agree, discussions like these can take the ‘fun’ out of football, but I was never big on escapism anyway…
Jordan:
The violations perpetrated by the Chinese in the way of orwellian control, child labor and persecution of political dissidents are inexcusable in any context.
The irony is that in today’s world, if you swapped Chinese with American in that sentence, few people outside the US will protest. Not really relevant to what I was saying, but it seemed interesting enough to point out.
“Unfortunately we live in an anally-restrictive politically correct world where calling someone black is considered wrong and making the now infamous ’slit-eyed’ gesture (slit-eyed - now that’s a demeaning word, isn’t it?) is considered grounds for being branded racist and uncivilised.
And here I was thinking that the Olympics promoted tolerance and multicultural diversity - because with that comes an acceptance that other societies have different standards and the ‘right thing’ is relative to what you believe in, not necessarily an absolute truth.”
Ahmed, I have great respect for you as a writer but I have to say as a Chinese this is a serious case of misjudgement. The “slit-eyed” gesture is a gesture that, in my experience, has always been used as a means of demeaning and mocking. It is just as hateful as thrown bananas or monkey noises at a football match.
To use the theme of multi-cultural diversity to excuse this kind of gesture is just plain stupid: it is equivalent to a white man making the excuse that he calls black men “boys” because all his friends do it.
Yes, morality might not be absolute, but shouldn’t the onus be upon one to consider the feelings and moral standards of others, rather than upon the victim to be magnanimous and “tolerant”, accept the stereotyping and racism? There is a time for tolerance and a time to stand up and speak out for what is right. Tolerance is what is needed in the Middle East, it has no place here, where a blatant sign of racism is being excused as a sign of affection.
Sign of affection, my yellow ass. Try telling the poor Asian boy who suffers from racist abuse every lunch break that actually, those white boys are quite fond of him!
Hacjience -
- I’m sure the poor Asian boy is their “favorite *&^%$#@!” (some deragotary racial term).
As to the article, well, I’m hopping mad. No mention of the story behind the kissing gymnasts, nor a link to a video of same on Youtube.
Yeah, Olympic voyeurism brings out strangeness of different flavors in the mass audience. Its entertainment to us - and we get a made for TV version with heroes, titillation, and (weak contrived) heart tugging. But I keep the faith that for the athletes it is a purer experience, a rare chance for them to test themselves conclusively against the best in the world.
The Olympics really isn’t for us on the sidelines.
But since we’re here watching, how about some video of the kissing gymnasts? Pretty please, so to speak
Eric,
It’s all I have, unfortunately.
Ahmed,
I would object heartily.