One man’s despair is other man’s euphoria

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Sydney: In Beijing there is euphoria, in Moscow despair. Halfway through the Olympics, China have already won a record haul of gold despite a disastrous start when a batch of suspected drugs cheats was slung off the team.

Russia, meanwhile, have been struggling. Alexander Popov was dethroned as king of the pool. And when the undisputed queen of the bars, Svetlana Khorkina, slipped and fell last week, the hopes of millions of Russians camecrashing down to earth as well.

''Moscow is worried,'' said Vitaly Smirnov, president of the Russian Olympic Committee. ''I've received so many phone calls in the last few days - from politicians, business people, government officials,'' he told Russian reporters over the weekend.

''Everyone wants to know what is going on with our team.'' That was the question most Chinese were asking themselves before the Games, when six of seven members of the Ma family army of female long-distance runners were axed from the squad, along with coach Ma Junren and 21 other athletes.

The rest of the world was wondering whether China's real intention was to appear squeaky clean in Sydney, thereby boosting their chances of hosting the 2008 Olympics.

If that was the case, had China sacrificed their medal chances?

But the Chinese are on a roll in Sydney, and the reaction at home has been exultant. After six Chinese golds last Friday, the China sports daily spoke triumphantly about a ''red storm breaking in Sydney''.

''Everybody, Chinese and foreigners alike, is talking about China,'' the country's leading sports daily said. The Beijing daily hailed the ''day of China''.

While the Beijing morning daily proclaimed that ''the whole country is inspired with enthusiasm''.

Before the Soviet Union collapsed, their Olympic teams had become unassailable. At one Olympics after another in which the Soviets competedagainst cold war enemies the United States - Munich, Montreal, Seoul and Barcelona - they topped the medals tables. Americans and East Germans competed for second spot.

The Russians had less success on their first outing in Atlanta, bringing home 26 golds against 44 for the Americans. But in the build-up to Sydney, ordinary Russians were encouraged to believe that the glory days of Soviet sporting achievement were on the way back, and Russian athletes wouldagain challenge American supremacy.

On the eve of the Games, Anatoly Kolesov who headed Russia's Olympic preparations, predicted up to 37 golds. But that target now seems almost out of reach. ''Simply speaking, we've screwed up,'' said Russian gymnastics chief Leonid Arkayev, summing up his team's performance.



(c) Reuters Limited.