Hurrah & Duh!: Beijing Olympics

So, I was wrong. Still have not seen athletes fainting. Have not seen lots of masks, either. Well, the rain, natural or artificial, helped lower the air pollution.

But, told you; there's lots of celebration and controversy at the Beijing Olympics. Hurrah for Michael Phelps. He's won his seventh gold in swimming, equaling the medal of fellow American swimmer, Mark Spitz. Let us wait later today if he could win gold in his last relay event. If he could, he'd be the most decorated Olympian. In fact, Mark Spitz said when interviewed by NBC an hour after Michael won his seventh gold, "...An EPIC!", which may mean he's the greatest.

Some celebration, though, have been clouded with controversy. Some skeleton in the closet are coming out now.

Spectacular pageantry during the opening ceremony? The gold medalist in the women's(or girl's) team competition? Duh! It's like lead in children's toys.

It now has been known that the voice of that little girl, who sang at the opening ceremony, was by another girl. She was replaced because her face was not as pretty as her voice. Those kids. who wore ethnic costumes, were not a bona fide members of the ethnic groups that they represented. Hence, many are questioning what's behind all these pompous display of wealth, artistry, and athleticism.

So, the suspicion trickled to the gymnasts. One rule in Olympic gymnastics is that the athletes must be at least 16 years old on or before the game. Unfortunately, those innocent faces of some of the women (or girls) who showed powerful tumblings, and extraordinary courage and balance made many question the veracity of their ages. Being Asian, I don't believe that all of the gymnasts are 16-year olds. As I watched them, my mind kept on bringing me back to my high school years. I haven't seen Filipino Chinese in high school as young as those gymnasts. (There were two that I really was suspecting.) Finally, somebody leaked the bad news. One of those gymnasts is just 14 years old. Duh!

So, what do you do now, Mr. and Ms. IOC (International Olympic Committee)? Don't you plan to strip off the gold medal from them? The Little League Baseball World Series organization strip off the championship medal of the Philippine Little League Baseball team in 1992 for not following the age requirement and abode of those young boys (or men). Why can't you?

Anyways, this Beijing Olympics is just not halfway over yet. Expect more controversy, because lying is pretty normal to human beings. US sociobiologist, Edward Wilson (1975) stressed that "...true spite is a common place in human societies, undoubtedly because human beings are keenly aware of their own blood lines and have the intelligence to plot intrigue. Human being are unique in the degree of their capacity to lie to other members of their own species."