Comment on "Sportsmanship more important" (China Daily, Aug 3)

I am an American and I have read the column about the disqualification of badminton players at the London Olympic Games.

I respect what has been written about sportsmanship. But it seems the problem also lies with the way that the competition is structured.

In chess, one is allowed to sacrifice a pawn, even a bishop or queen, to checkmate the king. So if the Olympic committee does not want to reward such strategies, it should structure the competition differently.

In fact many players may be losing matches by such a well-concealed maneuver that is looks entirely natural.

To me, the more reprehensible action was the US coach's, who insinuated that Chinese swimming gold medalist Ye Shiwen had used drugs. There should have been a call for the US coach to resign, because he violated the Olympic spirit, as well.

And congratulations to China for its superb performance in the Olympics!

John Walsh, via e-mail