Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Yellow Tornado Dissipates: Project 119 Still Alive




Many of us who are a bit older can remeber those Ajax cleaner commercials in the early 70s which featured a white tornado swirling over the sink or through the garage cleaning everything to a sparkling shine in no time. If you missed seeing those, too bad for you...they were entertaining.
This year, we have the Yellow Tornado and Project 119. Sure, the East Germans and Russians are gone from the Olympics: proof could be seen in the Romanian gymnasts who were more interested in texting friends than in perfect scores; their results showed the distraction. That's my theory: bring down the Commies with Western decadence in the form of video games, Britney, Madonna and McDonald's.
Anyway, the most recognizable face in Chinese sport these days is not Yao Ming (a surprise) but Liu Xiang, a competitor in the 100 meter high hurdles and China's first real gold-medal threat in track and field. He is, in fact, a former world record holder out to defeat his arch riveal Dayron Robles of Cuba (who hasn't discovered decadence yet) who currently holds the world record at 12.87 seconds.
Xiang is one of thousands of Chinese athletes who are products of Project 119, a government program designed to create gold medal Olympians following abysmal performances in the 90s games. Children as young as three were identified by scientists who measured prospective growth rates, achilles tendon lengths and feet size among other things; these kids were sent to athletic schools in order to prepare to be champions: not just good athletes or world record holders, but OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS. At any point during the process at which progress hit a plateau, the youngsters were cast aside in favor of more potentially gifted children. This was SERIOUS business for the last 20 years, and it seems to be working in some respects.
Of the 119 possible gold medals in the past Olympics, China won 28 in Sydney, 32 in Athens and currently have garnered 43 in the Beijing Games...and not by "ripping off Americans" as was claimed by Bela Karoli. The Chinese have always dominated in sports like table tennis, badminton, diving, weight lifting and gymnastics, but were determined to excel in ALL other sports as well (hence the number 119)in order to show how well communism has succeeded in the East.
That's where Xiang comes in: he is NOT the typical Chinese person. He is 6'2" and weighs 185 pounds. He is also a famous hurdler, and Chinese people have long considered themselves "genetically disadvantaged" in sports like track and field...size being the issue, I suspect. Anyway, during the past year, Xiang promised that Chinese track was on the ascent and that there would be a "Yellow Tornado" in Beijing. Not so much...but not for lack of effort: China entered 70 athletes alone in the T&F competition, but the focus was clearly on Liu Xiang who is so popular in China that he cannot even walk on the street. He lives with other athletes during the week and sees his family only on weekends. He was not allowed to get a driver's license: he is driven everywhere, and giant posters herald his every accomplishment. He shills for Nike, Cadillac, Coke, and Lenovo laptop computers. He made $23 million last year, making Yao just a poseur!
Sadly, though, he did not even run a race this week. A heel injury prohibited him from getting off the starting line. Millions wept (unabashedly!) including his coach who openly sobbed at the post non-race news conference, and seats at the Bird's Nest emptied quickly amid a serious pall.
While Project 119 seems to be bearing fruit during this Olympics, for one athlete upon whom the weight of the entire country rested, the fruit was rotten, indeed.

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