Flame Goes out for Beijing Olympics

The Chinese Communists pulled off a reasonably successful Olympics in the last 16 days. One remembers Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt more than demonstrators whinging about Tibet. As Jacques Rogge, the top dog at the International Olympic Committee, said, “New stars were born. Stars from past Games amazed us again. We shared their joys and their tears, and we marveled at their ability. We will long remember the achievements we witnessed here.”

These games were the “coming out” party for the People’s Republic of China. Thirty-five years ago, China was a closed society, impoverished and rather hostile to the outside. Today, China remains a dictatorship of evil old men, but they have managed to enrich materially the lives of the people. As Deng Xiaoping said, “It is glorious to grow rich,” and China has. Global capitalism brought China into the 21st century, even with a backward political system. The dragon is awake, and the games just ended was China’s way of saying so. China Daily stated, “The Games was a historic climax of three decades of China opening to the world.”

There were some stumbles and bumbles, though. A Swedish wrestler got himself tossed from the games for dropping his bronze medal on the podium and storming off because he didn’t like the judging. A Cuban was disqualified in tae-kwon do after taking too long for an injury, and he responded by kicking the referee in the head with his good leg. And three Chinese gymnasts appear too have been under age.

On the other side of the coin were Messrs. Phelps and Bolt. The American basketball “Redeem Team” reminded the world just who invented the sport. Abhinav Bindra won India’s first individual gold medal in the 10 meter air rifle shooting event. Mr. Rogge noted, “If I had a story to tell, it definitely would be the embrace and hug of Georgian and Russian athletes on the podium two days after there had been violent clashes in Georgia.” Georgian Nino Salukvadze and her Russian rival Natalia Paderina represent the best of the Olympics and are heroes of peace.

At the closing ceremonies, London’s Mayor Boris Johnson accepted the Olympic flag from Mr. Rogge, and he fumbled around before figuring out how to wave it. His city has a challenge ahead of it, to follow the spectacle of Beijing. Londoners have 4 years, and there is one certainty. London won’t try to top Beijing’s show; it will do things its own way, smaller, cheaper, and in the end, as exciting. They are, after all, the Olympics.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Kensington Review Home