Media contemplates value of Olympics

As curtains of the 28th Summer Olympic Games fall, Chinese media are in hot discussion on the values of the Olympics and how Beijing should prepare for a great Games four years from now. Excerpts follow:

Beijing News: China finished the Athens Games with 32 gold medals, ranking a record second place behind the United States in the final medal table, its best ever result in Olympic history.

The gold medals, won by Liu Xiang in the men's 110m hurdles, the women's volleyball team after 20 years of gold medal drought, among others, are especially inspiring for the Chinese people.

When celebrating the great success, however, we should keep a cool head about the value of the medals.

The Athens success sets a strong foundation for the overall improvement of China's sports. On one hand the achievement has proven the strength of China.

But on the other it fails to prove a thing.

The Olympic success story is just a small part of the overall sporting picture.

China is not yet a sporting superpower. Public sport in this country still falls far behind. Seventy to 80 per cent of developing countries' populations regularly partake of sporting activities, whereas the proportion in China is less than a third.

The average indoor stadium and gymnasium space is only 0.014 square metres per capita in China and that of outdoor sports ground is 0.027 square metres.

In the 2000 World Health Organization Health Report, which focuses on health equities and healthcare systems, China ranked 144 out of 191 countries.

How can we focus so intently on the Olympics yet leave our public sports in the wilderness?

In the wake of the Athens success we should take a step back and tackle the sporting issues that we live with on a daily basis.

We should not exaggerate or devalue the worth of the Olympic gold medal. A rational attitude is needed.

China Youth Daily: The social research centre of the China Youth Daily carried out an online survey from August 25 to 27 on this topic. A total of 6,647 netizens took part.

Around 27 per cent of those surveyed expressed their appreciation for the opening ceremony. It did well to represent the ancient history and culture of Greece and left the audience wanting more. It also posed a difficult task for Beijing to outdo Athens without falling into the stereotypical mire that is red lanterns, gongs and drums and dragons.

A noticeable trend in the survey was the deep impression the unfair judging made upon those surveyed. It rated as more important than the marvelous competition. But given the protests made by the audience in the men's gymnastics competition and the unjust treatment of the Chinese team in men's team foil competition, such a result is not difficult to understand.

Since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the Olympic Games gradually become a profit making event. But when the Olympics returned to its hometown, the Greek people cared more about national self-esteem than profit.

There was hardly a trace of commercialism inside the arena, nor was the making and counterfeiting of Olympic products too much of a focus.

In the survey, 16 per cent of people agreed that commercialism should be cut back to ensure Olympic zeal is untarnished, while 27 per cent took the opposite view, that being, "without commercial operation, the economic burden on the host city will be too great."

About 57 per cent of those surveyed think we should learn from Athens but take into consideration China's situation. They also agree that there should be a limit to commercial activities for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The construction of stadiums and gymnasiums is a mammoth money pit for any host city of the Olympic Games. But the Athens story has enlightened the Chinese organizers. Beijing is changing some of the fancy designs it first put forward so that billions of yuan can be saved.

As high as 41 per cent of those surveyed worry about the traffic conditions. About 24 per cent are concerned about the damage that could be done to the environment. While others are apprehensive about the organizing and atmosphere of the competition and plans for the opening ceremony.

We hope Beijing can surpass Athens in all these respects.

Yanzhao Metropolis Daily: The recent 2004 Athens Olympic Games is favourably recognized as a glorious and magnificent sports event. However, its applauded success has posed a thorny conundrum for the organizers of our 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. How to avoid being overshadowed by Athens' magnificence? How to interpret the Olympic spirit in a more effective way, yet not just to make it a gaudily dressed sports event?

As an embodiment of many contradictory concepts, the Olympic Games has always been a serious headache for the participating countries as well as the host nation. People are bewildered at whether to make it money-oriented business or to promote sports spirit for its own sake. They are also puzzled by the problem of whether to load the event with political missions or stuff it with crowd and sponsor pleasers.

For China, the meaning of international sports has never been limited to score itself. For the sake of politics and national dignity, many Chinese people favour such pompous ideas as "hosting the best-ever Olympics" and "winning glory in the Olympics," and in doing so completely ignore the likely unaffordable cost.

To solve the "Olympic conundrum," people should hold far-reaching discussions and work out a widely-accepted preparation plan. This strategy would clearly determine the respective importance of such factors like politics, culture, sports and business benefits.

However, the above-mentioned problem has not achieved a consensus among Chinese people. People are only told to "host the Olympic Games in a thrifty manner," but they are never informed which factors are more important in the preparation phase. "Thrifty" is too vague a word to describe such an immense event as the Olympics, and it is not a well-set benchmark for people to determine the necessity of certain investments and projects.

Chinese organizers should quickly learn from experiences of the other Olympic hosting countries and think more about realizing an Olympic dream of our own making.