Misconception

The very misconception is: by winning the gold medal by a man who could run fast and over the hurdles, we become a stronger people and a great country.

The scenario is all too familiar. Many fans of the Chinese martial arts in the Qing Empire tried to prove their daggers were better than the bullet; an equal number of the Red Guards (紅衛兵) in the Cultural Revolution attempted to show abacus could do the arithmetic faster than a calculator.

On a few occasions they were successful - in fulfilling their inferiority complex but grandiose ego paradox.

But, let's take aside our patriotic feeling and passion for traditional Chinese culture. There are millions of people who could use the bullet or calculator - and they are ordinary people who had a reasonable training. Our genius in flying dagger or abacus are one-in-a-million and their achievement take years of hardship.

And although Liu Xiang (劉翔) may actually run faster than Dayron Robles, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are any faster or stronger than a man from Cuba, or Jamaica, or London.

If our people is straight and have confidence in ourselves, why bother so much about the one who quited the game and lost "your" gold medal ?