The Real Olympic Spirit

As I mentioned before, I really enjoy watching the Olympics. This year was no exception as I watched most night with rapt attention. After so many great moments, it was tough to pick my favorite Olympic memory from the Beijing Games. But without further suspense, I have decided that my favorite Olympic moment comes from Cuban taekwondo fighter Angel Valodia Matos.

During the bronze medal match of his weight class, Mr. Matos was supposedly injured and needed a break to regain is composure. Taekwondo fighters are allowed one minute of injury time before they are required to resume the fight. Apparently, Mr. Matos took to much time and he was disqualified, even though he was leading the match with the match in it's later stages. This disqualification did not sit well with Mr. Matos, and he promptly kicked the judge in the face and spat on the mat to show is displeasure. Mr. Matos was then escorted from the event by his support staff and soon after was banned for life from the Olympics for supposedly showing unsportsmanlike conduct that did not represent the spirit of the Games.

Here is a link to a recap of the event if you would like to read a little more.

Sports or Politics?

Like the rest of you, I have been thoroughly enjoying the Beijing Olympics. Watching Michael Phelps dominate the pool has been awesome. That 4 X 100 free relay was the most exhilarating finish I have seen since Gary Hall Jr. and Anthony Irvin tied for gold a in the 50 free in Athens. Anyways, even though I know the Games are a sporting event, this year in particular seems to be dripping in politics. Starting with the madness that was the torch relay to the supposed ages of several Chinese gymnasts, I cannot remember an Olympiad that has been so politically charged. I know that there were boycotts in 1980 and 1984, but I really was not paying attention to the politics of the world in those times.

So many different things appear to be in question:

• Fake fireworks at the opening ceremonies.
• Age of the gymnasts.
• The right for groups to protest in three designated areas. So far every request has been denied.
  
• Darfur supporter and Olympic Champion Joey Cheek having his passport denied. He was not allowed into the country.
• Sketchy scoring for the Chinese female gymnasts that gave them favorable scores on routines that looked less than stellar.
• Air quality.
• Chinese censorship.
  
• The insane picture that the Spanish basketball teams took in which they made their eyes appear slanted in an attempt to "honor" the host nation.

These are just a few examples that I could think of, even though there are undoubtedly more. Once again, I understand that politics been a part of the Olympics for a long time, most notedly in Munich in 1972 and Berlin in 1936, but none that I have personal memories of. I am dying to see how these Games will impact China in the coming years. The Chinese clearly want to prove to the world that they have arrived after years of isolation. However, I do not think that the Olympics have proven everything that they wanted them to.