One reason why I don’t do journalism; unnecessary criticism.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/trackandfield/news/newsid=230705.html#nation+shares+lius+pain
I was really looking forward to Liu Xiang running the hurdling event because it was an amazing race. Then he had to drop out due to an Achilles tendon injury, but he still tried to run the prelims despite it. That made me admire him even more, because one of the things that my coach told me, is that if you know that you are going to injure yourself and the flight’s going to mess you up even more, then don’t run it, because you have time to make it better, not make it worse. And Liu tried despite having a lot of pain, but once the gun shot his injury held him back.
I have sympathy for the guy though, because imagine all the pressure that’s put onto him. I read that he wasn’t the type of person who indulges in the fame, and because of all the injuries he had, he trained away from public’s eye (EDIT wrong information on my part, sorry. Liu was forced by the Chinese government to train indoors away from the public and not compete due to an outbreak. Also he has a music video out, so I don’t know about the fame part anymore, but he sings really well.). Having a whole county, especially with China being overpopulated, look at you as a hero for being the first Chinese track runner to win a gold medal, and pushing you to win it again…give the guy a break. I wonder if the reason he ran this year was because of the pressure to win rather than his will and heart to run.
An olympic reporter however, aims to mar Liu’s reputation. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I got irritated at the way the reporter was talking about Liu’s hurdling event. First of all, he says, “Liu did the smart thing. If he had raced and lost, he would have lost considerable face, and so – by extension – might all those counting on him. And make no mistake: there was no way — zero — he was going to repeat as Olympic champion.” Isn’t the Olympics all about unity and the world peacefully competing with each other as the world’s best athletes? And this reporter has the nerve to say that Liu would’ve shamed himself as well as everyone else who looks up to him if he had ran? If he had ran with his injury and finished, then that would make him faster than a whole lot of us running the hurdles without an injury. And denying him the medal off the bat? Who made this reporter an official judge in track & field? Furthermore, “Adding insult to Liu’s injury, Cuba’s Dayron Robles took Liu’s world record, dropping the mark to 12.87 seconds.” What does anther person’s victory have to do over his injury? Records are made to be broken, and even though times do change, Liu’s still holds the second best time in the 110m hurdling event of all time, which I still think is really amazing.
The main reason why this reporter annoys me, is that he’s using someone else’s misfortune in order to gain credit in his article, when in reality, makes him seem like a snobbish prick. You can see the obvious pain that Liu was going through even before he got set and it seems like the reporter is enjoying it because of the tone he sets in his article. It is really disappointing. The reporter is just the bully poking fun at the nerds because they’re smarter than him.
People who make a positive history should be admired for what they accomplished, not shamed for what they couldn’t control.
Nancy Yeang 