Outside View
Jamaican secrets
New Zealand's biggest free-to-air broadcaster TVNZ said the explanations for Jamaica's success in producing the fastest man and three fastest women at the Olympics range from the power of root vegetables to the study of genes.
Jamaica, an island of 2.6 million people, has made remarkable achievements on the tracks of Beijing's Bird's Nest and let the yellow, green and black flag fly with pride.
Once known for being the land of laid-back reggae culture, Jamaica's athletes are giving their country a new image as the island of power and pace and many are asking the question - why?
"It's part of the natural ability of Jamaicans," Jamaican Sports Minister Olivia Grange told Reuters when asked the question recently.
Men's 100-meter gold medalist Usain Bolt's father credited the local yam for his son's success and while that might raise smiles there are many on the Caribbean island who believe their diet - full of root vegetables and herbs - is behind the pace of their youth.
The popularly held idea among Jamaicans that they are born quick has been given some academic support by Professor Errol Morrison of the island's University of Technology.
Morrison told the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper that research conducted with the University of Glasgow has identified a special component, called Actinen A, found in the "fast twitch fibres" in muscles.
Morrison says the gene is present in a disproportionately high number of Jamaicans and others of West African descent.
"What it says to us is what is happening is not a flash in the pan, but there will be many potential Asafa Powells, Sherone Simpsons and Sherikas (Sherika Williams), because the genetic predisposition is there," he added.
"The question is always there. What is it, nature or nurture, that makes us so good? The answer seems to be coming that there seems to be a strong underlying genetic or nature predisposition as to why we are able to perform like this."
There is also the power of tradition - athletics has long had strong roots in Jamaica.
Arthur Wint won the 100 metres gold medal at the 1948 Games, the first the country had entered while still a British colony, and Herb McKenley won four medals from 1948 to 1952 and later Merlene Ottey enjoyed success throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
"I think it's a combination of factors," Jamaican athletics chief Howard Aris told Reuters.
"We have the tradition from way back, from 1948. We have the talent, we have the certified coaches. From the very early stages, they are taught the right things - how to eat, how to train, how to sprint."
Whatever may be pushing Jamaicans to run fast - it is certainly working in Beijing.
Greatest Olympian
Calling US swimmer Michael Phelps the greatest swimmer of all time, US Miami Herald said he is built to swim in the water the way a wing is built to cut through the air.
The paper said as Phelps' quest for eight gold medals is complete, now the question is how does he do it?
It named three factors:
"Hard work"-Phelps trains anywhere from two to five hours a day, six to seven days a week
"Luck"-there is some of that given consideration of that a fortuitous half-stroke in the 100-meter butterfly for the slimmest of victories
"Teammates"-the wonderful performance of other American athletes that helped Phelps to win the swimming relay medal.
But the paper noted that there is one important thing more: this guy is actually built for swimming. It pointed out several advantages of his body:
the 6-foot-4 Phelps has arms nearly three inches longer than his body
His unusual physique features a torso that is long and legs that are comparatively short
His heart pumps blood to his major muscles twice as well as ordinary people
The reports said Phelps needed every one of those advantages to help him create magic in Beijing.
Every minute he spent in Beijing was spent with one goal in mind: winning eight gold medals. Every minute the journalists covering him spent in Beijing over the eight-day swimming program was spent with one goal in mind: making it to the pool every morning to play a small part in history.
Mother athlete
The New York Times paid a tribute to the 33-year-old German gymnast Oksana Chusovitina, who dedicated her silver medal on the vault to her ill son.
The paper said Chusovitina, who is more than twice the age of some of her competitors at the Beijing Olympics, won her first Olympic gymnastics medal at the 1992 Barcelona games.
If it's not for her son Alisher with leukemia, the mother-athlete would not have been at this Olympics in the first place.
Through fund-raisers and donations, money came in from all over the world to pay for her son's treatment and Chusovitina said she doesn't know how to thank everyone for their help, but compete for those people.
The paper said her son's recovery inspired her to train for this Olympics, but she never thought a silver medal was possible.
Other athletes also showed their respect for her, the United States gymnast Shawn Johnson said "I don't know how she does it, how her body holds up. I'm already hurting and I'm only 16."
The paper quoted the Olympic gold medalist Bart Conner as saying everyone who is a gymnast or who has been a gymnast is simply in awe of her.
English lesson
Reuters found that Beijing's taxi drivers' hard-earned English skills haven't got them very far.
The reports said the taxi fleets in the Chinese capital wanted to offer smooth, international service to visitors from around the world during the Olympic games.
The drivers are kitted out in new yellow shirts, striped ties and keep their cars sparkling clean this month.
Though they have been struggling for months to memorize phrases and pass required tests in English, most are still relying on dial-up translation services or hotel business cards to get foreign passengers where to go.
The story quoted Zhao Dongfei, a Beijing taxi driver, as saying communication with foreign friends has not been too successful.
Younger drivers had an advantage if they still remembered high school lessons. Older drivers who hadn't taken English in school often learned phrases phonetically, or studied along with their school-age children.
Driver Li Yuxian was amused when a foreign passenger held out his arms stiffly and flapped them to show "airport". "The fact is, 95 percent of us can't speak English," Li said, according to Reuters.
But most drivers think the English lessons had some benefit.
"I think it helped a bit in understanding, if they speak slowly," Li said, Learning English was certainly useful. The problem is we didn't learn enough."
Olympic aficionados
Armchair athletics may not be an Olympic sport but it's the most popular activity in China this month, fuelling concerns about rising obesity rates, Reuters reported.
Chinese media has even given its army of TV Olympic spectators a name - otaku - a Japanese word that means "venerable house" and usually refers to someone nerdy who is totally devoted to a hobby to the point of not leaving home.
Figures have shown about 840 million of China's 1.3 billion population tuned in to watch the August 8 opening ceremony of the Beijing Games and interest is expected to stay high till August 24.
Increased TV viewing, less physical jobs and a shift away from a traditional Chinese diet rich in vegetables and carbohydrates with little animal-sourced food to a more Western diet heavier in meat, eggs and dairy have piled on the pounds.
Rowing for gold
The International Herald Tribune said the women's quadruple sculls crew won China's first-ever rowing gold medal and the entire stadium, probably the whole country, is happy and proud to celebrate along with the beaming winners.
As the rowers stood on the medal dock singing the national anthem, thousands of Chinese belted out the words with them. Flags waved in the air and volunteers cheerfully exchanged high-fives with enough thunderous jumping to rattle the stands. And all these are because of a breakthrough in the rowing history of China.
The paper said China revamped its approach and dedication toward winning medals in rowing. The country imported coaches, rowers trained longer hours and more cash was pumped into the program to make the Chinese athletes contenders on their home water. Now, the country has six rowing medals in its history - including one shiny gold.
"I was thinking that a lot of people have said that it's impossible for Chinese rowers to get a gold in the Olympic games," said Xi Aihua, one of the four athletes, according to the reports.
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(China Daily 08/19/2008 page11)
