Posted on 08/13/2008 10:40:50 AM PDT by 2dogjoe
BEIJING (AP) -- Alicia Sacramone's foot slipped off the 4-inch-wide tightrope that is the balance beam, her body wobbling and shaking as she fought to stay upright. Another slip, this time in the floor exercise, sent her tumbling onto her back.
Mistakes of millimeters by the Americans made for just enough of an opening for the Chinese to slip through for the team gold medal in women's gymnastics Wednesday at the Beijing Olympics.
"I was surprised by the mistakes made by the U.S. team," conceded Cheng Fei, who has seen enough of the Americans the past four years to know they're made of pretty stern stuff.
Maybe too stern.
The Americans were plainly uptight, their faces scrubbed clean of emotion and looking very much like a team trying to hold on to something they didn't have instead of one gunning for gold. Their exuberance and personality - qualities just as vital as their somersaults and twists - were nowhere to be found while the Chinese let loose with abandon. They smiled. They giggled. They traded high-fives and even a chest bump.
(Excerpt) Read more at monitortx.onset.freedom.com ...
It’s a communist regime. The end justifies the means. The Chinese female gymnasts were obviousl underage. Remember the Chinese women swimmers were winning all their competitions until they ( IOC )tightened up the doping agency. Where are they now?
I couldn’t agree more. The fact that we were not tough enough to beat another team and their cheating is a consideration. Americans are always held to a higher standard and we should not be ashamed of that. America is the gold standard whereas most of the world looks at cheating as socially acceptable. As I used to say while living in Europe for a few years, “the rest of the world looks up their nose at Americans”.
>>Pressure is an adult reaction and any grace under it is strictly an adult response. There was no pressure on the Chinese team because they are children.<<
Ding, ding, ding!!!!
We have a winner!!!!!
Spot on!
Hey, some of them were 14, I think.
Still too young when the rules require them to be 16.
No matter how many gold medals the Red Chinese finagle out of this Olympics, the government of that country still sucks. Wait a minute, so does ours. D’Oh!.
Is there a minimum age to compete in the Olympics?
“They traded high-fives and even a chest bump.”
Definitely a chest bump. No boobs to bump among that team.
In the floor exercise the girl who fell on the beam, fell again and it was over.
The Chinese knew they were in first and all they had to do was go through the motions and not get careless, which is what they did.
IMO sports writers are the epitomy of the person who has never accomplished anything in their lives but has a job criticizing those who put their face out there and themselves on the line for glory.
Sportswriters are just as big of scum as your typical journalist.
Don't know about all the sports, but for gymnastics, the competitionn age is 16.
16
I found my answer - since 1996, the IOC has had a rule that all gymnasts must be at least 16. OF course, that didn’t stop underage Chinese gymnasts from competing the last go-round (and even getting to keep their medals after admitting their age after the fact).
And here comes the 2008 Olympics - and again China uses underage gymnasts (proof from a Chinese source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2008-05/23/content_6707927.htm ).
Do rules mean anything or not? IF not, then quit testing for drugs and other methods of cheating... cheating is cheating.
Her punishment was to be suspended from judging competitions for a whole year.
She cost the Canuck pair $Millions in endorsements. She should have been fined, jailed, and banned for life.
Predicatable FR responses. Had this article been about China’s poor sportsmanship, everyone here would have gotten on the band wagon. But since it’s about the poor attitude of the US team.....well, this article, surely must be propaganda.
LOL, excactly, what in the heck does a 12 year old have to worry about?
What poor attitude of the US team?
Why the invidious comparison? If one side’s nervous and the other one’s self-assured, it doesn’t have anything to do with sportsmanship or graciousness.
I am commenting on the title of the article. What if the title had read:
"Americans, not China, shows grace under pressure"
The postings/responses would have been different.
Neither team showed a bad attitude or bad sportsmanship during the meet.
Other than the Chinese gov cheating on the girls ages, which is common for commies during the games for decades.
I'll give you that, you watched and saw that NEITHER team showed a bad attitude. But what if, the title was reversed? Despite that, wouldn't people here jump on the bandwagon?
Other than the Chinese gov cheating on the girls ages, which is common for commies during the games for decades.
You just gave me an example.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.