Wednesday, August 20, 2008

US vs China in the 2008 Beijing Olympics

The others should give up dreaming of landing at the top two in this 2008 Beijing Olympics. It's now US vs China. Currently, China is on the lead with 43-14-19, Gold-silver-bronze medals. US is in far second at 26-26-27, but still leads in medal total. In determining the winner, we all know that it's the number of gold that counts.

But there are so many who complained about the judging and all sorts of accusations. Here are some of them:

1. Obscure tie-break system in judging (particularly in the gymnastics)
2. Titanium robots as divers (i read this in a comment in another blog featured at yahoo)
3. Underage gymnasts (looks like the chinese are really underaged. Or they are just cute.)

There was even one medal count table which displays the rankings based on the number of medals won. Of course, it's the US on top. But it won't be for long. And when you browse on some sites and blogs that features the Olympics, it's mostly the US athletes on the front page. Michael Phelps won 8 golds alright. And it can't be disputed. But there are really sour-graping posts.

As to the judging, it is a fact that judges are prone to errors. But they are the best people for the job. In boxing, the best way to avoid biased judging is to knock out the opponent. But I don't know how they do it in gymnastics, diving, and other sports which are won by judges scores.

And where is the Philippines in the 2008 Beijing Olympics medal standings? As of today, we are nowhere in the table. Let's better be spectators to the two world superpower in sports. Their rivalry is fun to follow. I hope the politicians will not involve theirselves here.

2 comments:

Oman said...

We will definitely be a mere spectator alright with our erratic sports program. Unless there are super pinoys like darna or dyesebel who will represent our country, then the Gold will remain to be just a dream.

Panaderos said...

Our country's performance in the Olympics is the reason why I don't even bother watching the whole thing. This is just me but I don't find it exciting to root for another country's team in such type of an event. I should be rooting for mine but given the very sorry state of our country's sports program, I don't expect to have an interest in the Olympics anytime soon, probably not in my lifetime given the pace of change in my dear country.