(no subject)

It's a shame about the ladies gymnastics. It is, but they should know that it wasn't mistakes on their part. The Chinese outclassed and out-competed them, fair and square. Even without the major deductions on beam and floor, they had the USA beat by well over a point. Way to go, China! Seriously, they have awesome gymnasts. I still think the men did better, overall, but the ladies held their own and made it their own.

I look forward to the individual event competitions and the all-around individual final. Shawn Johnson seems poised for more greatness, but I'm especially keen to see Nastia Liukin on beam again. She is so fluid. Her limbs have no bones, I swear. Shawn has her beat on balance and sticking her landings, but Nastia looks better in motion.

Oh, and Michael Phelps is going to break his neck carrying his medals around, but we knew that.

Fine Lines

This is the problem I have with reporting on the Olympics. The only article thus far on the Chinese women's victory is primarily concerned with rumor mongering, not their performance. Oddly enough, there are two articles about this, the second unironically complaing about how much coverage this story isn't getting.

Might there be something to the accusations? After the kerfluffle with the opening ceremonies, it's easy to believe that it's a distinct possibility. But the accusations are entirely vague and they sound like bad grapes, especially if you listen to Bela Karolyi. He bitched about the ratings system--not like we've all been doing, but because he felt it was unfairly penalizing his team (no evidence of that that I can tell, but what do I know?). He seems very vituperative when his team doesn't win, getting away with it with that thick mustached-smile and twinkling expression. I see bad sportsmanship that will taint the outcome even if these accusations were true.

I also have a hard time beliving "She doesn't look 16!" as an excuse in gymnastics. I remember thinking the 1996 team looked older than it should do and being constantly surprised at their ages and the squeaky voices when they spoke. That much exercise stunts growth, puberty, everything. The Chinese gymnastics program, as we were informed ENDLESSLY last night, takes girls as young as 3, basically kidnapping them and training them up and selecting the best from there. Barbaric? Well, I think so, but then I think that the American parents who shove their kids into these programs themselves at 4-8 are slightly evil, too. As long as it works, it's not going to stop.

With as many people as they have, and with the recruiting they've done, I have a hard time believing the Chinese would risk the embarrassment of selecting girls who were underage. Could be that they've done so, but I give them the benefit of the doubt. Why risk it? The opening ceremonies were about pageantry, and as I've said numerous times, they were designed by a film director. Film directors are used to cheating to achieve the effect they want. I'd just as soon believe he swapped the singers in some bizarre form of live ADR as the Communist Party demanded only a pretty girl. The sports are different--for starters, there are rules. Broken rules there lead to most serious consequences. Winning at any cost hurts those who live by such a mantra more than it helps.

For now, brava to the Chinese women. They join their many cohort--in synchronized diving and the men's gymnastics team--who've not been abused so for being so suddenly great. Celebrate and have fun!