We were robbed of more than one gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. What else is new? Atlanta and Los Angeles, Lake Placid, Salt Lake City all had questionable “hometown calls” but the slanted and biased judging during these games was blatant. Someone might have gotten paid. As Gene Hackman’s character Lex Luther said in “Superman: The Movie,” “promises were made and gifts were exchanged.” No doubt about it. When it comes to “subjective judging” there should be instant replay like other sports and differences should be addressed on the spot.
It is okay for a bit of home field advantage in light of the billions that the host country China forked out to host the games but during the past four years, young athletes paid their price to compete in blood, sweat and tears. The “unique” judging was apparent especially during the gymnastics competition where you could almost see the corruption oozing out of the pores of the judges and the Chinese officials. I am sure that several of them had whiplash from turning their heads the other way.
Some athletes vented their frustration with the judging and officiating in another way. One young man in particular who took the judging personally was a Cuban athlete participating in the sport of tae kwon do. Angel Matos assaulted the referee after losing a bronze medal match. Matos was declared the loser for taking too much injury time after hurting his leg during the men’s over-80 kg (176 pounds) match. Fighters are allotted one minute for an injury and Matos was disqualified when his time ran out. After questioning the call, Matos then pushed a judge and followed that up by kicking referee Chakir Chelbat of Sweden in the head. Matos then spat on the floor and was escorted out.
The Americans were null and void when it came to the boxing competition. Check this out, please. An article recently published in the L.A .Times that was co-written by Kevin Baxter and Lance Pugmire states that; “The Olympics once provided the springboard to fame for the likes of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe, among others. The U.S. has won only two gold’s since 1992—and earned a total of two medals four years ago in Athens.” “I’ve got 18 year olds telling me they’re ready to turn pro now instead of staying in the program,” said Cameron Dunkin, professional boxing’s reigning manager of the year. “There’s no reason to. For every Olympian doing well in the pro game there’s 10 guys doing better who weren’t.”
The story also goes on to point out that “coming into these games, the U.S. had won nearly twice as many boxing medals as any other country, and had won at least two in every Olympics since 1952.”
I don’t get it. How do you go from feast to famine, being the American team in four years or in the case of China, famine to feast? China took home two gold medals in 2008 but only one bronze medal from the previous 2004 summer games in Athens. I spoke with Suzanne Grassel, the Digital and Publications director with USA Boxing on the day after the 2008 summer games in Beijing concluded. She said that “once an amateur boxer turns professional, the athlete becomes ineligible to compete in the Olympic Games.”
The IOC, like its corrupt NCAA “kissing cousin,” is blatantly selective in which sports it allows professional athletes to compete. If professional players from the sports of volleyball, basketball and hockey are allowed to compete, then why are boxers and the sport of boxing excluded? In the case of Olympic basketball, a player can be a professional and hail from another country of origin and still compete. The IOC mirrors the NCAA, once again, economically handcuffing a sport that is predominately Black.
And as far as media coverage goes, most of the coverage of Black athletes was negative, i.e. showing over and over again the women’s and men’s track teams failed attempts at bringing home a medal because of unforced gaffes. Mistakes such as dropping batons during the competition in two crucial men’s and women’s track and field relay events.
Even the beleaguered MLB home run king Barry Bonds and his tribulations are now being used to penalize the game of softball, which was only introduced as an Olympic event in 1996. As of July 11, 2005, the IOC voted to discontinue softball, at least temporarily as an Olympic event. Now hear this. According to IOC President Jacque Rogge (I am paraphrasing him); “a number of countries allegedly are of the opinion that because softball is closely associated with baseball, the United States may have an unfair advantage because of the opportunity of its softball players to attain, possess and use illegal steroids.” That premise is insane. There is doping in every sport. If that is the case then they need to eliminate the games entirely. All during the 1950s and ’60s an “unusual” percentage of athletes from the eastern bloc suddenly developed “eclectic” physical characteristics. Women all of a sudden grew beards and sported 25-inch biceps. These irregularities were immediately diagnosed and the proper testing was implemented to address the problem. They did not discontinue the sports because they suspected the athletes and their government-sponsored programs of cheating, they implemented and maintained investigative tools to uncover and address the inconsistencies.
When athletes were found to be in violation of the IOC’s policies, most of the time the individuals were penalized and in some cases banned from the games entirely. America had better be careful. This is not about Black or White athletes’ it is about the global obsession to beat the United States. The world is weary of losing. Oftentimes, when attempts to win time after time after time are unsuccessful the rules may then be changed or in some cases, forced to remain the same.
(Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com.)
