By Zhou Yan and Zhang Zeyuan, Xinhua,
Beijing : When the 600-strong athletes of the Olympic host China are fighting hard to nab more gold medals to honor their nation, the several million home spectators are also trying their best to grab another title: the most amicable and well-behaved spectators for Olympians from all over the world.
The enthusiasm of the Chinese spectators, who have tried hard to get a ticket — any ticket — to experience the Olymics at their doorsteps, goes not just to superstars like Michael Phelps and Yao Ming, but also to those who lost but demonstrated an undying determination.
A posting entitled “A heartbreaking scene at the Beijing Games: Colombian weightlifter’s tears” appeared on the homepage of China’s leading portal website sina.com.cn on Tuesday and stirred many Chinese heartstrings.
The account, posted by a spectator after men’s 62kg class finals on Monday, told how the Chinese audience had supported Colombian weightlifter Oscar Figueroa, who failed to lift the barbell after several attempts.
“The grief and helplessness in his eyes became apparent after several failed attempts. Everyone shouted ‘go, go’ and prayed for a miracle,” read the posting, from a netizen who named himself “Si Ren.”
While Figueroa broke into tears after one last futile attempt, the entire audience felt his grief. “Everyone was heartbroken until his teammate Diego Salazar won a silver.”
The account, posted at 2:30 am on Tuesday, received nearly 160,000 clicks, and more than 570 netizens left comments, hoping to give Figueroa a pat on the shoulder.
“I guess he was too nervous. I hope he would start all over again for the next Games,” wrote one netizen named “yp_xiaobao,” who said she was having her dinner but became too sad to eat after reading the story.
Four days after China welcomed in global athletes with a grand opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese have shared their laughters and tears by watching the Olympians play, either on field or on TV.
Emotional Chinese fans, who made up at least 80 percent of the audience in the National Aquatics Center, or the Water Cube, joined the flag-waving Americans to roar “USA” when the United States won three out of all four golds up for grabs in the swimming finals on Tuesday morning.
Despite the host country’s weak presence at these events, the Chinese spectators cheerfully applauded and shared the glory of Michael Phelps, Natalie Coughlin and Aaron Peirsol.
The only Chinese swimmer to enter Tuesday’s finals, Sun Ye, finished seventh in women’s 100m breaststroke, with the gold going to Australian Leisel Jones.
Whether or not the Chinese athletes are competing, fans of the host country have transcended their national sentiments to take delight in others’ victories, by shouting “go, go” and applauding with their cheerleaders to pep up international players.
“We really felt the spirit of the crowd,” said U.S. coach Kevin Mazeika after his gymnastics team took a bronze in the men’s final at the National Indoor Stadium on Tuesday. The Chinese spectators did not forget to applaud the U.S. gymnasts while celebrating their own gold.
Beijing worker Duan Kexin changed shifts with a colleague and got up at 6 a.m. to watch a men’s volleyball match between the United States and Italy on Tuesday.
“I’m pretty neutral and cheered both sides,” said Duan, 56. “But when we saw the Italians were about to lose, we all shouted ‘go, go Italy’ — people tend to sympathize with the disadvantaged, you know.”
Duan is among millions of Chinese volleyballs fans who still take pride in China’s Olympic women’s volleyball gold in 1984. “We huddled in front of the only black-and-white TV in our neighborhood to watch them play,” recalled Duan.
Lang Ping, the beloved hero who once helped China capture the Olympic gold, is now coaching the U.S. team. But domestic fans’ love for her has gone beyond the Chinese border to greet the American players.
“Many thanks to the audience. It was a pity that I couldn’t step up on the court and play for them,” Lang said on Monday, after her team lost 0-3 to Cuba.
Before the Beijing Games opened on Friday night, Olympics organizers had worried that some Chinese fans might not know when to cheer, or might even boo athletes from some countries and regions that they don’t like.
Three weeks before the Olympics opening, Beijing Games organizers published a set of dos and don’ts for the Olympic spectators, who are told to avoid taking drums, whistles, umbrella or walkie-talkie into the competition venues, or blocking others’ sight by standing for too long in the stands.
Beijing has also mobilized large crowds of volunteers, mostly college students and office workers, as cheerleaders to pep up athletes and activate the probably silent audience.
Meanwhile, the clean-up of uncouth behaviors such as booing and use of dirty words by the audience, as well as spitting and littering, started years before the Games are really here.
“I think the spectators were quite polite, with no one swearing or booing,” said Du Huajie, a Beijinger who also watched Tuesday’s volleyball game between Italy and the United States.
As the competition heated up, Du said the crowd became wild and applauses seemed to be loud enough to have the ceiling of the 20,000-seat Capital Gymnasium lifted. “It’s incredible to see my father, a serious-looking professor, yelling and waving his arms with the fans. So it’s the Games that matter, not just the medals.”
When China’s gold hopeful, Athens Games defending champion Zhu Qinan wept on the podium after a narrow defeat by India’s Abhinav Bindra in men’s 10m air rifle on Monday, his fans left him messages on the Internet, calling him a hero.
In 1988, when China’s gymnastic legend Li Ning — who lit the cauldron of the Beijing Games last Friday — returned home from Seoul with empty hands, he received piles of letters from his fans, all blaming him for failing to win a medal for his country.
(Xinhua correspondents Yi Ling and Lou Chen contributed to this story)