Sport

In China, U.S. facing epic moments

Los Angeles: Every Olympics has its epic moments. But never are they more charged or dramatic than when they seem to encapsulate powerful political symbolism.

From the feats of Jesse Owens in Hitler’s Berlin Games in 1936, to the U.S. ice-hockey victory over the Soviet Union in 1980 at the Winter Games, such moments are woven into legend in America and around the world.

We might get to witness some more legends in Beijing this summer as the U.S. attempts to hold on to its medal supremacy in the face of a determined and supremely well organised Chinese challenge.

As the unprecedented global furore over the Olympic torch showed, these Games are loaded with political symbolism about China’s arrival as a world superpower and its human rights record. In this atmosphere, the tussle for sporting bragging rights takes on a whole new dimension.

In the last Olympic Games in 2004, the U.S. had 102 medals, followed by Russia with 92 and China with 63. But the count for gold was another matter.

China was second with 32, four behind the United States. Now the world’s most populous country is making a determined effort to overtake its great rival and be proclaimed the world’s most successful sporting nation on its home turf.

According to a recent analysis in the New York Times, China may have spent over one billion dollar on personnel and infrastructure to improve its chances in medal-rich sports like rowing and swimming.

“Other nations’ Olympic committees also attempt to win medals by allocating extra resources to certain sports,” the paper noted. “But none has been as elaborate, well financed and daunting as China’s plan.”

That sets up a titanic battle with an American Olympic machine that churns out winners — many of whom have become tainted by drug scandals.

From rowing to track, and from pool to volleyball watch out for fireworks.

U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps is expected to become the most successful athlete in the history of the Summer Games. The 23-year-old already has six gold medals and is hoping to add an unprecedented eight more in Beijing.

Phelps, who won the five events he swam at the U.S. trials at the beginning of the month, said that he could work on a few things before the start of the Olympics.

“There are some little things I can work on between now and the Olympics. As a whole, it was a pretty decent week. It turned out the way I wanted it to. I’m excited and ready for the challenge that lies ahead.”

Nineteen-year-old Katie Hoff also won five events at the trials, and will be going for six gold medals in Beijing.

In the men’s 110m hurdles, for instance, Liu Xiang and Terrence Trammell finished 1-2 at the Athens Games and at 2007 Worlds. Liu, the former World record holder and China’s most popular athlete, will be under immense pressure to perform but Trammell has been talking up his own chances.

Double World champion Tyson Gay is facing some worrying moments ahead of Beijing after he crashed out of the 200m race at the U.S. trials and needed treatment.

The accident, which saw him sprawling to the ground, has already ended any hopes he had of making it a sprint double in Beijing and he will now be hoping that he can recover in time to make it to China.

In widely-watched gymnastics the women’s teams have been fighting a see-saw battle for supremacy while in men’s gymnastics the defending U.S. Olympic champion Paul Hamm will be trying to fend off World champion Yang Wei.

In women’s beach volleyball, defending Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh must face down a double gold challenge from Tian Jia and Wang Jie, and Xue Chen and Zhang Xi.

The prospect of these and many other clashes is great news for American sports fans, as it is for NBC. The U.S. network paid 894 million dollars for the broadcast rights to the Games. But the move was questioned by many analysts. Traditional sports are declining in popularity, and most people under 30 probably prefer playing video games to watching the Olympic Games.

Yet the drama of Games represents a double-edged sword for the advertisers whose dollars are ultimately underwriting the coverage. Drama brings in viewers, but political tension doesn’t sell products. “Sponsors don’t want anything to do with politics,” says Rick Gentile, a former executive at CBS Sports.

NBC is hoping that by offering niche coverage across its many TV and online outlets it will appeal to millions of viewers who rarely get the chance to see world class competition in their favourite sports.

When was the last time you watched a BMX bike championship on TV, or a fencing competition for that matter? With over 3,600 hours of competition coverage — 1,000 more than all previous summer Olympic coverage combined, chances are that the fans will be able to see what they want.

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