OPINION> Commentary
Golden surprises
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-12 08:10

The higher expectation of an athlete's good shape and perfect performance would quite often exert greater pressure on him or her, which would sometimes be too heavy for the athlete. Often this pressure, for former medalists in particular, is self-inflicted as they are more eager to get the medal again and more anxious of losing.

Yet, this is exactly where the charm of this international sporting event lies.

It would be unimaginable of an Olympic Games with only old faces standing on the podium to receive their gold medals time and again, and neither will it be possible.

With the spectators always taken by surprise and their guesswork proved wrong, the global gathering of sports people has been refreshed all the time.

Abhinav Bindra, sharpshooter from India, took the first gold medal for his country by beating all his rivals including last Games' medalist Zhu Qinan from China in the men's 10m air rifle. And this medal is also India's first individual title in Olympic history.

People differ in their expectations of the competitions. Some are obsessed with their favorite athletes and become excited even at the sight of their icons. They naively expect that their loved athletes would remain young and energetic forever.

But it is not without fun for them to get disappointed at the less-than-expected performance of their icons. Only such disappointments would make it possible for them to become obsessed with new icons.

For the media, attention has always been on the medal hopefuls before competitions. But the most impressive is always the unexpected medalist.

There was a great deal of guesswork about who was going to grab the first gold medal of this Games. To our surprise and joy, the Czech sharpshooter Katerina Emmons bagged the first gold medal in the women's 10m air rifle.

Chinese girl Chen Xiexia, who took the first gold for the Chinese team in the women's 48kg weight category, said that she had never expected that she would become the country's first gold medalist.

There are unexpected factors that affect the performance of an athlete or a team, and such factors do not always match viewers' expectations. No athlete comes to the Olympics without cherishing some hope of winning a medal. But anything could happen in a competition. Think of those who stumble on the running track or fall from the bars.

The degree of unpredictability adds to the charm of sports competitions and makes the Olympics attractive to sport fans all over the world.

(China Daily 08/12/2008 page10)