Ahh, the winter Olympics! The snow, the drama, the spandex. How can we not love it?
But instead of playing up the spirit of the Olympics, I would like to touch on something that has somewhat troubled me about the Olympics – fanaticism.
As Lucie mentioned, more objectivity in reporting is definitely welcomed. However, I think that we are fundamentally dealing with two different mentalities here with regards to the Korean and the American fronts. I can't say that American athletes lack patriotism. They do, but it is still quantified within the individual framework – benefiting the nation through self-gain to put it crassly. At the very least, they do not flaunt patriotism as fervently as the Koreans. Most American athletes look for the ultimate reward - corporate sponsorships, endorsements deals (with Ohno as the exception I guess). Of course I am generalizing, but one cannot dismiss its prevalence. American athletes have the luxury of deciding who they want to train with, or how they want to conduct their training - relatively speaking of course. At least, these are based on what I’ve observed.
Koreans on the other hand, seem to uphold the patriotic card on a different level of reverence. I think the issue that disturbs me is how death threats were targeted at Ohno (Of course, this can happen in different places, but I am only concerned with the Korean case here). What has he done? He does not hold the decision when it comes to disqualifications. For goodness sake, he is not even 150 pounds! The Korean public should have directed its unfounded anger at the panel of judges. The public’s uncalled for animosity towards Ohno plays into my general impression that Koreans do exhibit some form of national fanaticism. Honestly speaking, it freaks me out. Nationalism is good, but nationalistic fanaticism is dangerous. When Malaysian athletes lose medals due to disqualifications, the default winner does not receive death threats when they visit Malaysia. Likewise in Japan or Singapore. In fact, if Ahn visited the US, I highly doubt someone would even bother to send him a death threat. They might diss him, but that is not a death threat, just people being sour grapes.
Manipulation by the media might be a cause for such sentiments, but the media has to play on something already existing in order to stir up something. Am I suggesting some fundamental nationalistic fanaticism? Perhaps. Then again, I don't know the entire Korean population. But perhaps an interesting self-check is to ask yourself as a
chaemi gyopo, who were you cheering for when both South Korean and American athletes were competing in the same event.
Additionally, "collusion" is common in short-track races. That is why Ohno wanted another American to be in the finals. There is a widely acknowledged pattern of Koreans and Chinese athletes playing tag-teams to secure medals. This is an observation not only American sport journalists concur, but other international journalists too. It is unethical. But in the pursuit of Olympic goal, are sportsmanship and ethics important components? I would like it to be, but I am being idealistic. Such tactics are really difficult to penalize – you know it is happening, but you can’t do much about it. However, it is important for me to emphasis that the recent short track race was indisputably clean and fairly executed.
I am not South Korean. Do I care that South Korea won? Not at all. But I am extremely proud of the fact that the best athlete, and an Asian at that, won the gold medal. I really am. This brings us to the very essence of the Olympics. It is suppose to unify people, not polarize nations. I cheer for the very best athletes and teams based on their talent and ability – not by nationality, skin color, or how tight the spandex is.
The South Korean dominance is not a fluke - it is sheer talent and potential. But it is the Korean nationalistic fanaticism that scares me. One can argue that it happens everywhere. Not really. I will strongly disagree with anyone that tries to parallel this fanaticism with the religious fervor in the Middle East. What might have happened if Ohno were to win the race via the disqualification of another South Korean athlete again? Thank God that did not happen. So what breeds patriotic zeal? When does patriotism transforms into nationalistic fanaticism? I don't know. But I do know that it freakes me out, and it poisons society. Not because I am a hater, but I just don’t think the most educated society in the world should fall victim to excessive zeal that clouds objectivity and judgment.
Hah, but then again, for someone that does not even remember his country's independence day, who am I to talk about patriotism?
- ARC
