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A very un-Olympic spirit

A very un-Olympic spirit

Friday, August 17, 2012, 16:12 GMT+7

The London Olympics may have ended last Sunday, but that doesn’t mean people have stopped talking about the world’s largest athletic competition. This week saw several articles concerning the event on City Diary, and they covered a range of topics. I figured I’d chip in with my own two cents.

During the Games, Tuoitrenews published daily articles covering Team Vietnam’s participation at London. These articles, along with those published by other news outlets, struck me as being extremely negative. Once it became clear that Vietnam’s athletes weren’t going to win any medals, phrases like ‘failure’, ‘empty-handed’, and ‘poor results’ appeared all over the place.

To be sure, there isn’t anything wrong with being disappointed in the outcome of a certain event. I imagine most Americans wondered what was wrong with Michael Phelps in his first two races. But that sentiment shouldn’t linger. Simply qualifying for the Olympics is an amazing achievement, and something only a small percentage of humanity ever accomplishes.

Countries are supposed to be proud of their Olympic delegations. This isn’t the English Premier League, where athletes are paid millions and criticism is a given. Olympic athletes aren’t paid to compete, they are doing it out of sheer will and determination. I haven’t seen a single word of congratulations directed towards the Vietnamese athletes from the Vietnamese press. Imagine how disheartening that would be: you are thousands of miles away from home in a strange country, yet your own countrymen are calling you failures. Surely this had a greater psychological impact than any of the other excuses given by various coaches and sport management officials.

Medals don’t mean everything in the Olympics. Of course, everyone would like to win one, but I imagine nearly every athlete would tell you they were happy just to have the opportunity to compete on a global stage. Their fans back home should feel the same way.

Michael Tatarski

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