An embrace in the time of a war

At the medal-awarding ceremony after the women's 10m air pistol shooting competition on Sunday, silver medalist Natalia Paderina from Russia and bronze winner Nino Salukvadze from Georgia embraced each other. The scene must have moved everybody who was watching in the shooting range or before the TV screen or who read about the news online or from other media, for everybody knows the significance of the embrace - the two athletes' countries are right now engaged in a military conflict.

The two athletes are definitely patriotic. They have come to the Beijing Olympics to win honor for their countries. But they did so by striving for the "faster, higher and stronger" goal in peaceful competition rather than engaging in bitter rivalry out of hatred.

When asked why she kissed and embraced Paderina "while Russia and Georgia are at war", Salukvadze said: "We hope there is no war in this world ... There is no hatred between us athletes. Paderina and I are good friends." Paderina agreed: "We are true friends. Our friendship has lasted for a long time ... Sport should be separated from politics."