| Australia and Soth Kore lead the Medals table! | |
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| Aug 17, 2008 01:08 | #11   |
 | HOW TRUE Paul. I totally agree and I also love to see how well we Ozzies do with such a small population. What else is exciting is to see a country like Tunisia with probably less than ten athletes competing, win a GOLD in the pool and at our expense. They deserve to be encouraged. China dominates in the medals because of the sheer size of the population and the elite training that they all get. Yes it's hard for the athletes but without this aggressive Government support few of them would have the chance to get to the top of their country let alone the world |
| Aug 17, 2008 22:48 | #12 |
| Paul. I agree with you that CHina hsould concentrate on grass roots sports developments. As for your questions, I guess that even weight lifting clubs are built, few people go there because it is not popular in China. The most popular sports in China are table tennis and badminton. Now the basketball seems to be popular too. Australia is the same. The hockey is very popular so that there are many hockey fields. But can you tell me how many table tennis and badminton courts there are in Australia? I guess few because it they are not popular there. Right? |
| Aug 18, 2008 00:26 | #13 |
| There are quite a few opportunities to play table tennis, in fact in the major cities (haha we only have 4 cities over 1 million ppl) there are facilities for most sports. You know, I have been trying to get two libes of discussion going - one is that population size and funding are important factors in winning medals ( so traditionally I have wonderred how the US can think itself so clever when it has such an advantage (and als the USSR in the past). Now China is moving into that position and will lose support from the rest of the world. If asked who I support in say Basketball, I have always said 'Two teams: Australia and whoever is playing against the USA'. China should avoid having the workd cheering against it by understanding that other nations are smaller and increasingly, poorer. The second issue is that of grass roots versus elitism. It is a good metaphor for the politics of China today (which we cannot always talk about too openly eg in this site). What is the future of China? Is it going to be about the common people or about elites? Sport is a reflection of the society, it is PART of politics! So I am happy to see China's successes in this OG, and to see the successful Beijing OG, but that doesn't mean to say I won't raise questions... that is the (western) academic way and is also the future for China. |
| Aug 18, 2008 08:33 | #14 |
| Jimmy, Lots of homes in Oz have a table tennis table. Its one of the biggest sellers at xmas time. They just don’t see it as a serious game. I agree with Paul, if you are after just international sporting successes just throw plenty of money at it. But if you did feed the roots the tree would grow any way; by the million. Cheers, Dod |
| Aug 19, 2008 04:48 | #15 |
| No doubt you are right, Dodger. However, some sports are really hard to promote because even the public don't like them. While some sports are liked by many Chinese people, such as badminton and table tennis. Can you force a guy to practice weight-lifting? No way. Each country has its advantages and disadvantages. As Paul perceived, huge population can help China to choose best athletes. This is true and it is China's advantage. Maybe, Australia should increase the population. In this way, they can have more good athletes. Just kidding! As for the rankings, different people have different rankings. I do repect those small countries that have won many gold medals. |
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