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I am certain that in every country in the world where there is access to television, people were looking forward to the start of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. I certainly was and because of the time difference between England and Cambodia, I had to set my alarm for 2.00am in order to wake up and see the Opening Ceremony. Unfortunately the CNN coverage of the ceremony seemed to concentrate more on interviewing people sitting in Hyde Park than actually showing the ceremony itself - so I switched to CCTV4 from Beijing and was delighted to get the whole ceremony there uninterrupted. Like all Olympic Opening Ceremonies, it was impressive. However, many people have tried to compare it to the 2008 Opening Ceremony in Beijing, but that is something you cannot do. China is in a different part of the world to the U.K., and it has a totally different culture so naturally their themes and ideas will be different. I can only say that having seen both - they were both most impressive and all the organizers of the two events have to be seriously congratulated.
Unfortunately, once the Games got underway this week, some ugly heads started to appear which shouldn't have happened and which by themselves take away not just the image and spirit of the Games but the very meaning of them also.
Perhaps the biggest nonsense is the "controversy" surrounding the exceptional performance of the young Chinese swimmer Miss Ye Shiwen, who won a gold medal in the 200 meter individual medley by taking one second off the world record just 3 days after winning a gold medal in the 400 meter individual medley. Immediately the BBC Presenter Miss Clare Balding asked "How many questions will there be about someone who can suddenly swim faster than she has ever swum before?" That was very quickly followed by Mr. John Leonard, the Executive Director of the American Swimming Coaches Association who most ungraciously referred to Miss Ye's win as "disturbing". They both suggested that she had to be taking "performance enhancing" drugs.
Such remarks seem to me to be not just "un-Olympic" but also seem to show hints of both politics and racism. The spokesman for the International Olympics Committee, Mr. Mark Adams quickly but politely referred to their remarks as "sad". Lord Colin Moynihan, Chairman of the British Olympic Association joined China's anti-doping chief in defending Miss Ye. He said "she has been through (anti-doping agency) Wada's programme and she is clean. That is the end of it."
Why these protests and remarks from Miss Balding and Mr. Leonard when Miss Ye is not an unknown quantity in the swimming world? She may not be well known to Mr. John Leonard or Miss Balding, but then maybe they don't pay attention to any except those on their teams, but she is certainly known elsewhere. Her first major win was in 2006 when at the age of 10 she won the 50 meters freestyle swim in her peer group at the Zeijiang Province Games. In 2010 Miss Ye won gold medals for both the 200 and 400 individual medley at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, plus two Silver Medals at the World Swimming Championships in Dubai. In 2011 she won a gold in the 200 meter individual medley at the World Aquatic Games in Shanghai. With a track record like that behind her, why is it so incredible that Miss Ye could win again in London? Are both Mr.John Leonard and Miss Clare Balding both of the opinion that a person from Asia is incapable of an excellent performance in the water? I wonder what the reaction would be if someone should suggest that the performances by both Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps "were disturbing". I shouldn't wonder really - I think I already know - there would be a HUGE explosion of protests.
Now there is another debate starting. Lord Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Olympics Committee - himself a former Olympic gold medalist - when asked at a news conference if he thought Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian ever, said he wouldn't say that as there have been many great Olympians and mentioned among others Carl Lewis. I would agree with Lord Coe but would go further. Winning (to date) 19 medals is certainly no mean achievement but one has to acknowledge that some of those medals were won with the help of team mates in relays - medals he would not have if the others on the team were not exceptional also. Something that is never mentioned or acknowledged, but at the same time I am not saying or even suggesting he is not a great athlete - maybe just not the greatest.
Personally I think where the games are concerned it is unfair to say who is the greatest as there are so many who are never mentioned. I think of our own small team here from Cambodia. They have little money, They have hardly any sponsors and they have to train in much less than ideal circumstances as we don't have the facilities here or the money to build them. They just hope they can scrape up the money to train for a week or so in China. To me they are great athletes who somehow make it to London and although they may come home minus any medals, they compete with a great (and grateful) attitude in the full spirit of the games and so deserve much praise. What about that young marathon runner from South Sudan who - because his new country is poor and has no money and no Olympic Committee, somehow has managed to get to London himself via means various so that he can compete under his country's flag - the only athlete from there. He is a great athlete and deserves much praise. What about that weight lifter from North Korea who won the gold by lifting an amazing and almost unbelievable weight. He too is a great athlete and deserves much praise. Yet not a single mention of him has been made on or in western media channels If that doesn't have a scent of politics I don't know what does.
There is still time for things to improve and for all this nonsense to end. I hope it does. The Olympics wherever they are held, are a wonderful opportunity for people of different cultures and races and from different parts of the globe to come together and understand each other. Racism, politics and jealousy do not and should not have a place there.
