Went out for the third-time field test of my driver's license at 11 o'clock this morning and so inevitably missed the 110 men's hurdle qualifier (unless I had an advanced 3G mobile, which unfortunately I dont have), which almost every Chinese compatriot along with NIKE and COCA-COLA and other sponsors I cant name were so very much looking forward to, simply and proudly because of our superhero, Liu Xiang. Too long a sentence the last one is but since I had the terrifying test to pass (though obviously nothing compared with Liu's challenge), I was soaked in a worried mood of uncertainty and thus ungenerously ignored Liu's qualifier, until I received a txtmsg from a married classmate, whom I contacted twice during the last twelve months, once about her own wedding ceremony and the other about the wedding ceremony of another mutual friend. So the third time we exchanged information, it was about Liu Xiang the hurdler, the superstar, and the tragic hero as I later learnt. The txtmsg reads like a joke- it is a joke indeed, saying that "as the Chinese stockmarket is underperforming even during the Olympics (!), Liu Xiang is really disillusioned and has suffered emotional fluctuation, which has triggered his injury. Therefore Liu quits the competition and returns home to focus on his stock performance". Since I the outdated dont have any 3G connection or GPRS subscription on my mobile phone, I couldn't tell whether it was a joke and so I texted another friend, who returned me a rather short reply: "en, low-profile". Later my married classmate texted me back in a unbelieving tone that I should treat her msg as a joke. I then explained to her my awkward location and status, about which she consoled me that driving course in CQ's much cheaper than in GZ and wished me good luck in my test.

Thanks to her encouragement, and against all odds (Liu's injury for instance, though not quite related to my test, is infectious enough for a psychologically fragile person like me) I finally made it through the test (surely I paid the 400 soft-pass fee). Later in the evening when I returned home, the first thing I did however was not turn on the TV or laptop for Liu's misfortune, but pour a full glass of COCA-COLA (alas), to kill my thirst. So later on I finally turned on the laptop and saw news coverage on Liu's misfortune occupied the whole SINA SPORTS headlines. In less than a minute I learnt that Sun Haiping, Liu's coach, "choked with sob" in the press conference about Liu's withdrawal and that Mr.Sun also confirmed Mr.Liu also cried in the changeroom (though in what way we don't know, as SINA didn't describe~). Other related news dealt with in-depth analysis of Liu's injury as well as compatriots' encouragement and "humane tolerance" towards Liu. SINA also suggested that Liu's injury is so shocking that it's won coverage of media around the globe. Therefore I visited TIMESONLINE and guess what, THERE REALLY WAS A HEADLINE REPORT ON LIU(!)

Interestingly, from the headline news on TIMEONLINE I learnt some trivias about Liu, that "the Shanghai native is said to like seafood and so a nutrition expert reportedly added sea cucumber – an expensive jelly-like delicacy – to his diet. Reuters news agency quoted a source saying: “Liu has several cars but is not allowed to drive for fear of getting injured. Nobody asks him out for a meal in case the food has something bad in it. There is a group of men following him for 24 hours. He can’t even drink a bottle of water if he doesn’t know exactly where it comes from.”" This reminds of me of some gossip news I browsed earlier about Liu's Cuban opponent, Robles playing electronic games late into the night in the well-facilitated Olympic village, and the much superior basketball player Kobe Bryant enjoying Peking Duck at will. If the TIMESONLINE trivias were true, Liu is already a spoiled kid, a Sichuan Panda like athlete, an over-tuned hurdling MACHINE instead of a normal human being. In fact, I was also intrigued by two pictures about Liu withdrawal, one showing Sun Haiping's "chocking with sobs", the other showing Liu's agonised face on the track.

I'll tell you what I think: They look really unnatural to me, prearranged somehow (at least psychologically), cos' obviously Liu's injury was not immediate on the track today, he was injured days ago and obviously any mediocre doctor let alone Liu's state-level "nursing team" could tell that Liu simply COULDN'T attend the competition! So why did he still appear in the bird's nest today? Under public pressure or whatsoever. And then he "injured" in agony in front of the audience and withdrew and coach choked with sobs and Liu himself reportedly cried too. What's the logic in it? The logic is "Let's make it look more natural and acceptable to the high expecting crowds (that at least we tried!) That was really high pressure. I understand his situation but I personally don't take any sympathy though I wouldn't go so far as to say any one deserves anything. 

If I were in his situation, I would choose not to appear in the stadium today (his appearance looks awkward though some people might call it heroic). But I am not a super hurdler, I am not a million dollar athlete, I don't have any commercial sponsor, I haven't got a team catering my diet, nor do I have any high premium on my ugly feet. I am just someone who eats and drinks irresponsibly to get fat and smokes to kill myself. That's not even a comparison between a mediocre being and a national hero. How can I be so ignorant as to place myself in his situation? Excuse me~

Two more things about withdrawal and tears. According to SINA, on 10th of August one Chinese rowing athlete "forgot to attend" his qualifier. The news was very short and disappeared later that day. A careless person I am, I still can't imagine "forgetting" to attend my Olympic qualifier as an athlete! But if I am a doping athlete, I would surely choose to absent the game along with the drug test that follows~ Then there's gymnast Chen Fei's tears , she had some misplays in the final and "lost" her highly expected gold medal. Later in the interview, she cried with tears on her face expressing her regret for the gold medal lost. I must say compared to Liukin the Russian gymnast beauty, she's not so pretty and her failure is not too much of a regret, considering other gymnasts' good performance. I now take sympathy with this TEENAGER for what our medal winning athlete institution has turned her and her team members into: medal winning slaves.

I think I am just a pessimistic pervert spoiling the festive Olympic mood and have no sympathy or tolerance toward our hard-working "mathlecines". Just now as I read Ai Weiwei's remarks on the Olympics, I found I am shamefully not so alone. What a shame~

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/18/china.chinathemedia