November 18, 2005
COULD BE WORSE...:
The hidden cost of China's hunger for Olympic gold (GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN, 11/18/05, The Scotsman)
Sir Matthew Pinsent, the four-time rowing gold medallist, claimed that gymnasts as young as five were routinely beaten as part of their training regime.He made the allegations after visiting the Shichahai Sports School, a boarding school in Beijing that trains gymnasts.
Others who have visited the school in recent months have also remarked on the harsh regime and the director, Liu Hong Bin, has talked of the need for "discipline and order" among his young charges.
Sir Matthew, who is a member of the British Olympic Association and a former member of the International Olympic Association, said: "I've been thinking about it a lot. I was wondering whether it's a kind of Western approach, compared to an Eastern approach. [But] at the end of the day, I definitely think those kids were being abused.
"It was a pretty disturbing experience. It is gymnastics, and that sport in particular has to start their athletes young, and China is pretty unremitting in its drive to win the gold medal tally in Beijing, but I was really shocked by what went on."
...they could have hired Uday Hussein. Posted by Orrin Judd at November 18, 2005 7:23 AM
Nothing unusual for a tyranny thirsting for the slightest scrap of legitimacy.
Posted by: Mikey at November 18, 2005 8:16 AMHopefully, the U.S. will find somebody to play Jesse Owens three years from now.
Posted by: John at November 18, 2005 9:05 AM"I've been thinking about it a lot. I was wondering whether it's a kind of Western approach, compared to an Eastern approach. "
Can't you just hear his mental gears overheating? Keep thinking, Sir Matthew. Nothing to do with East vs. West. Try West vs. West.
Posted by: Peter B at November 18, 2005 12:24 PMWhatever happened to the days when a British aristocrat would simply say that some things are not done because they are not to be done? Saved all that thinkin' space for more important things - plotting conquests and scheduling the next annoyance of the local fauna.
Posted by: Mikey at November 18, 2005 3:14 PM