China's Gold Medals Are Tarnished

The "coach" standing on the
legs of a very young gymnast

The training regimes of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Romanians created Nadia Comaneci, Svetlana Boguinskaya, and Maria Gorokhovskaya. {For those of you who don't know, those are Olympic gymnasts.} Talented women no doubt, but all started their Olympic training started at very young ages (5 or 6) at government training centers. These countries were producing professional athletes for the Olympics.

In 1986, the Olympic charter changed and removed the distinction of "amateur" and "professional." Now, professionals from all countries could challenge the Soviet professionals. The Soviet Bloc dominated the Olympics from 1952-1991. The USSR dissolved in 1991. Romania's socialist republic was overthrown in 1989 with army-supported countrywide revolts. {Interestingly, Nadia Comaneci defected from Romania in 1989.

Now, it is the People's Republic of China's turn. It is the new Soviet Union of the Olympics. I'll leave out the Olympic political history of China, but they couldn't participate in the Olympics until the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. That's when they started to dominate the medals. Why? Same reason - government training centers. But, it appears the People's Republic of China's training centers are more brutal, and start with much younger children.

A young girl is pushed thru
a tough exercise routine.

The Chinese do not celebrate their winning gold medals. Watch the Olympic athletes leave a venue. You can't tell that they are the winning athletes. Their emotionless faces don't display happiness and joy of their great achievements. That's because they're programmed, literally, to win the gold. What happens to these athletes when they return to China? More specifically, what happens to the ones that don't win a gold medal. What about the badminton players who were disqualified and sent home. What happens if you bring shame upon yourself and China? I don't even want to think about the possibilities.

Children doing punishing exercises
"to toughen them up."

The Olympic Spirit is "building a peaceful and better world which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity, and fair play." As long as there are countries like China that torture children into award-winning athletes there will be no peaceful and better world. How does their brutal training help to instill a spirit of friendship, solidarity, and fair play?

Finally, there's Ye Shiwen, who astounded the swimming world by knocking more than a second off the world record for the 400m individual medley. There were immediate speculation of doping with steroids or other drugs. Ye insists that her "results come from hard work and training." Perhaps there are steroids or other doping methods being used. Or, perhaps she's a young girl who was beaten into becoming an Olympic champion.