USA and USSR seemed to seek for a way when they could show their sharp teeth to each other, and partially show who was more suitable to be called the strongest (only partially, since the nuclear arms threat still persistently existed). In 1984, USSR boycotted the Los Angeles' Olympic,indirectly raised USA's gold tally to above 80, the highest ever seen in the last 30 years since China opened its economic bamboo curtain.
Now, only four years after USA led the gold tally slightly ahead of China in Athens, China shouts loud its roar that it is ready to be the next world's superpower. USA and Russia fell gradually in the medal tally. This 'China's global ambition', as Western media puts it, seemingly drives the Western media not to recognize the achievement and effort that China has put for this Olympics.
International journalists recounted on how the Internet access is still censored in China when they could not post their writtings freely. Following these complaints, the Western media interferes and points at the dictactorship system that China never wants to let go. This system is certainly against the 'free-world' ideals, which are the ideals that Western world uses to cultivate its influence in every corner of the world.
China is also said to have copied the Soviet's system of training atheletes, the Juguo approach. This approach demands high budget on breeding the young talents for the future. The government's fixation of gold medals have shaped the characteristic of the Chinese to be overachiever and ambitious. A report states that even a Chinese provincial newspaper criticizes this system because the high budget could be used for education instead. The sacrifice of education for the sake of prestige is emphasized by the Western media as the comparison with the USA's atheletes breeding system. Some Chinese atheletes are potrayed to have less-than-happy childhood due to the strict training. In addition, USA allows their atheletes to get their rewards without a large portion cut for the government.
In my opinion, these commentaries are quite one-sided. I infer that it is a sign of paranoia of an overthrown king of Olympics, which is the USA. It needs something to blame, and since they cannot blame on their people due to their principles, they express it by annoying China's pride which is reaching the highest peak right now. Praising the awesome atheletic facilities and preparations, they attack on the other side which is less obvious: the human rights. Internet censorship and the condition that almost all Chinese people's economy has not improved since the Games become the main issues that are red marked by the Western media. The impression that I get is mainly that the Western world still compels China to follow their life-style and values.
I mainly agree that China also has some hidden objectives besides promoting International friendship. The gold-medals fixation also seems to exist to some extent. For example, the Chinese government spent a lot of money on the fields of sports in which USA is traditionally weak. China also tries hard to improve the fields they are particulary weak in, notably track and fields and some water sports. The first strategyseems to succeed more than the second one. It is a sign that China has been preparing to knock USA down by balancing USA's strength.
We should also remember when a top Chinese track and field athlete failed to finish the 100 m hurdle because of the unpredicted leg injury. The Chinese media reported the miserable event like a national tragedy. The failure covered the headlines of the local newspapers. I opine that this widespread publication of an unfortunate failure to be morally deteriorating for the athlete himself. It can be called as harsh for the athlete who actually had known that his leg would not work well before the race. He has no option since he holds the national pride on the field of sport that China is traditionally weak, track and field. While the other gold-winning athletes happily receive their 51000 USD price, this athlete should receive the same appreciation. If China's government does this, then it can erase the detrimental claim that all that glitters in China's mind is gold medals.
Even so, I still regret that the Western media has forgotten the main issue of human rights only for defending its prestige. The Tibet issues have been largely abandoned since the beginning of the Games. There are no activists protesting while the Games were progressing. They are all busy to watch the medal tally, I suppose. After the Games, the Tibet issues are only mentioned in one over ten headlines; meanwhile, months before the Games, it dominated about 50% of the headlines. If this Tibet issues is a real concern for the Western world, so big that even some EU's Head of States rejected to attend the Olympic Opening Ceremony, why is it so easily forgotten after the real battle of ego began?
Having said that, I assume that the Olympics really mark the start of a new global competition between USA and China. China has the upper hand now by showing to the world what it can do and how much money it could spend to create sucha mesmerizing opening and ending ceremonies. USA tries to defend the claim by pointing at the poor democracy practices in China. Well, we can never judge which people, the Chinese of the American, is the happiest and so on. This really depends on different mindsets. Reflecting on historical and cultural backgrounds, China and USA surely have very distinct mindsets.
As Usain Bolt breaks the sprint world records twice and Michael Phelps wins eight gold medals, a new race, more rapid and hard to be seen one, emerges in the stream of globalisation. Ironically, there is no winner in this race if none of the both sides ever want to learn from each other.
Sources:
1. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,574504,00
2. http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displayStory.cfm?source=hptextfeature&story_id=11985394
3. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/
4. http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11998511