OPINION> Commentary
The spirit of breakthrough
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-25 07:40

What is more important than gold medals is the spirit of achieving breakthroughs in the Olympics, says an article in People's Daily. The following is an excerpt:

In the Olympics, the gold medal is the highest reward for the winner and all athletes long for it. But winning golds is not the essence of the Olympics. Its essence lies in the fact that it can fully showcase the charm of sports and demonstrate the ideal of sports. Meanwhile it can also enlighten and encourage people through the gold-winning process.

In the first half of the Beijing Olympics, the eyes of all the people were on Michael Phelps for he created the wonder of winning eight gold medals in the same Olympics, a breakthrough in Olympic history. In track and field, Usain Bolt won more respect than other title-holders for he raised the human speed to a new height. Similarly, Xian Dongmei and Chen Yanqing both showed their spirit of breakthrough by successfully defending their victory positions in the Olympics after they had experienced the ups and downs of their careers. It is such excellent performance that becomes the keynote of the Olympics.

In the men's 400m freestyle swimming final, Zhang Lin snatched the silver, winning the first-ever medal for China in the men's swimming event. Zhang's silver is deemed as important as all the gold medals won by China's men's table tennis team.

As athletes from more and more countries won the first ever-gold medals for their countries, these breakthroughs turned their motherlands into the sea of joys, just like the happiness enjoyed by the Chinese when Xu Haifeng won the first-ever gold for China in the Olympics 24 years ago.

Breakthrough is more important than gold itself. Breakthrough means the endless self-challenge and self-transcendence; therefore it is more in accordance with the Olympic spirit of "faster, higher and stronger".

(China Daily 08/25/2008 page7)