Keeping The Myth Alive.
I don't think I've ever seen anything like this in athletics. The video below shows the 110 metre World Athletics final that was run earlier today. The two main contenders are Dayron Robles of Cuba, and China's Liu Xiang. As you can see in the video, Robles gets himself disqualified for impeding Xiang and basically preventing him from winning the gold medal. At first it all seems accidental, yet the more you look at the video the more it appears that Robles was deliberately holding Xiang back. Look especially at 2:30 and 2:48-2:52. Robles seems to not just brush Xiang's arm, he seems to hold onto it for a split second.
If this is indeed a deliberate attempt to impede the Chinese athlete (and to me it does seem that way) then this image eloquently symbolizes the dynamic of the experience of Asian men living in western societies. The Asian guy must not win under any circumstances. Sad day for Liu.
Yep, it's also disgusting how the media is completely ignoring the blatant obviousness of what happened. they seem completely satisfied with the answer Robles gave afterward that it was all just an accident when the video clearly suggests otherwise.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at the brawl a few weeks ago between China's basketball team and the Georgetown Hoyas. The media was completely against China from the start. They only quoted people from one side, mentioned facts suggestive that China was at fault for starting it, and showed photos suggesting China was the aggressor. They almost never mentioned a single fact that would suggest otherwise including the most damning of all evidence, a video showing that the whole fight precipitated when a Hoyas player threw a punch at a Chinese player.
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/georgetown-basketball-team-brawls-china-14337130
Keep in mind that these two events are common and takes place all within a few weeks of each other and are just two off the top of my head.
There is no doubt in my mind that we are dealing with evil forces here no less evil and powerful than the propaganda machine Jews and other people had to deal with under Nazi Germany. In many ways they had it better when it came to media portrayals because Nazi propaganda wasn't as effective as modern Western especially US propaganda against Asians.
Hi bigWOWO
ReplyDeleteLiu was very gracious about the whole thing and has said that he doesn't believe it was intentional - that is a good reflection on his character. As for me, the first touch seemed accidental, the second...well I think there may have been some degree of oportunism on Robles' part.
Anon
That basketball brawl seemed like it was something of a tit-for-tat, all round ill-tempered game that got out of hand. But I agree, and I'm not surprised that the media would spin it so that the Chinese players come out looking like the responsible party and the Americans as the victims.