The 110m hurdles final at the World Athletics Championships in Daegu, the Republic of Korea, was more like a "soap opera". Every Chinese feels sorry for Liu Xiang who came third, and was later awarded the silver medal by the International Amateur Athletic Federation after Cuba's Dayron Robles, the initial winner, was disqualified for holding back Liu. Though Liu's demeanor was gracious after the end of the race, discussions over the controversy will last long, says an article in Beijing News. Excerpts:

Liu Xiang's coach Sun Haiping and Chinese Athlete Association officials didn't feel relieved even after lodging a protest immediately after the race that Robles had hyeld back Liu. But Chinese viewers and netizens felt more indignant at the "injustice" than the Chinese team.

Though the slogan, "return of essence to sports" has been trumpeted for long across the world and for Liu, it may have been "merely a race", the facts were there for everyone to see.

There have been reports saying that Chinese people fail to view sports in its true spirit. But Chinese people pay excessive attention to winners because the more medals a country wins the greater is its prestige as a sports power.

From another perspective, however, the feelings that international competitions generate among people of a country turns them blind to the real essence of sports. Overwhelmed by a performance-oriented mentality, people praise the winners and shun the losers and thus ignore the real value of sports. But sports has a deeper inner meaning, which is beyond winning or losing.

Liu has gone through joys and sorrows both in his career, and seems to have taken them in his stride. But some Chinese people cannot rid themselves of their historical background. Perhaps to enjoy the real beauty of sports, winners should be divorced from money and fame.

(China Daily 09/01/2011 page9)