Endoh’s Dungeon

I am sure some of you are watching the games very closely, and likewise, I have never followed Olympic Games as closely as I had this year. Perhaps, it is due to the fact that for a long time, the Olympic Games wasn’t hosted in Asia and travelling a long distance to catch the games live is almost impossible. The television is all we can count on, for those like me who can’t actually fly to Beijing.

It’s been a great Olympics so far, and I’m always smiling whenever someone wins a game. Winning an Olympic medal is always a great achievement and I don’t think I will ever come close to that with my casual sports. Most of which, I caught over television broadcasts. With so many stations providing updates to the latest results, there are some stuffs which I observed. Break it down again, some probably left me puzzled. At times, I asked myself if the media has preferences over who to glorify or not.

Somehow, I find the coverage a little lacking.

Nigeria Football Team
After defeating Belgium, the Nigerians can now marched up to the finals to go head-on with the Argentinians. It’s a great achievement when reputable teams like Brazil and Italy crashed out of the finals. Taking into account of the World Cup as well, how many times have you read about Nigeria in the finals? Hardly.

When Argentina won their semi-final, the coverage of their victory lasted almost 3 days. The same can’t be said for Nigeria. The hype lasted… a really short time. Is it because Argentina is a more frequently seen team in international football scene so the coverage is more extensive? Nigeria’s semi-final match was a lot more entertaining in my opinion at least. They were seen sprinting from one end to another, as though they were freshly brought onto the pitch. Not like how Argentinians went sluggish after scoring their goal.

Jamaica Athletes
Any athlete from US to clinch the Gold medal in the Olympic Games is big news. Think Michael Phelps, his results are magnificent. Again, the same cannot be said for the Jamaican track and field team. You hardly hear anything about them, after stealing 4 Gold medals from right under the nose of the Americans. It’s a fantastic achievement not talked about very much by the media. Now, what’s the big deal? The big deal is, the Jamaicans have never won any track and field medals prior to Olympic Beijing. And overnight, they are going home with 4 Gold medals.

US athletes paled very much in comparison, with both female and male 4 x 100m runners dropping their batons which resulted in immediate disqualification. Let’s not also talk about other US performances that are less than being the best.

War on Doping
This year, not much doping has occured. There are still, but not as much compared to previous years. Til date, I have only caught news of a track and field athlete and also 4 horses for being investigated for doping. This is definitely a good sign for an international competition. Strangely, you don’t hear much discussion and I feel the athletes should be commended for their fair competition so far.

Taiwan’s Moment of Pride & Absolute Sportmanship
Did anyone watched the Tae Kwon Do female competition? I was highly impressed by Taiwan’s Su Li Wen. She went into her battle with an injured knee and she collapsed in the ring multiple times. But there she was, hanging on and on for her well-deserved victory despite the obvious pain. For more than half of the 3rd spar, she was literally fighting by standing on one leg. Her other leg just couldn’t share the load of her body weight anymore. Unless you have been watching the Olympics closely and this match in particular, you probably wouldn’t know about the event.

On another end, US’s Tae Kwon Do male competitor - Steven Lopez - enjoyed a large amount of media exposure despite victories in matches that hardly kept anyone gripped to their chairs.

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Oh well, there are plenty more and I think it’s appropriate to call them… The Untold Stories of Olympic Games. I am just finding it a pity that such athletes are not highlighted as much even though they have performed extremely well. Not to mention, some of them are underdogs.

Looks like the Olympic coverage is largely controlled and manipulated by commercial entities for “marketing faces” instead of the sports spirit. Do keep a look out for these little publicized competitors whom have won their pride and medal when you watch the Olympic Games. You’re probably not going to catch them a lot on the official media. Nobody’s keen to highlight their achievements except for the great nations.