在纽约生活和最近去巴西圣保罗，感觉到的是公园里年轻人跑步、滑轮、骑车健身的热情。完全不像中国的公园里一般都是退休人员的天地，很少年轻人的身影。看到国外年轻人这样锻炼的热情我就在想：这样的国家才是应该赢得奥运奖牌。
    国内年轻人总体来说健身的参与程度较低，除了小部分在健身房或球场，大都可能都在忙着读书和赚钱。我不知不爱参与体育是否和我们民族的一些生活习性有关，但我认为这和我们城市缺乏公共体育设施、没有给广大百姓创造健身条件不无关联。
    举例来说，我在纽约周末和同事、朋友轻轻松松就在曼哈顿或皇后区找到免费草坪足球场，而在北京，外经贸大学足球场的租费据说是两小时1500元左右。有多少普通百姓会为出一身汗花那么多钱。中国大部分的运动场馆都在学校内，都是用纳税人的钱造的，而对大众开放的只是很少一部分，并且很多收费不菲，让大多人人却步。
    我们国家把很多纳税人的钱很多都花在培养奥运金牌运动员身上。花钱培养奥运运动员固然没有错，但是否有必要在投资奥运和投资全民健身方面有那么大的反差，这是一个值得深思的问题。
    1936年的柏林奥运会上，中国的运动员除了一个，其余都在预赛中就被淘汰。导致新加坡的一份报纸用漫画嘲讽中国人为“东亚病夫。”这个耻辱成为一个噩梦在很多中国人心中挥之不去。直到1984年中国射击选手许海峰为中国夺得首枚奥运金牌，国人方才觉得扬眉吐气，才告别东亚病夫的耻辱。2008年奥运，中国夺得51块金牌，世界第一，比美国还多，更进一步证明中国人可以夺金，而且可以夺很多金。
    但我们是否有必要一而再再而三的去证明呢？没有了。但我们的金牌情结却不是轻易就消失的。对很多人来说，金牌仍是一个国家实力的象征。这个概念其实再错误不过了。
    正因为如此，我们才看到举重运动员吴景彪在夺金失败而获得银牌后的那种痛苦，嚎啕大哭，大声说对不起祖国、对不起国家举重队和支持他的人。
    其实他应该笑，而他的眼泪应该是幸福的眼泪。因为获得奥运银牌已经是巨大成绩，可喜可贺。
    奥运的精神是参与，只要每个运动员尽力了，那怕最后垫底，我们也要为他的精神欢呼和庆祝。不像我们对待射击铜牌获得者俞丹，让她被冷落。记得2008年上海的一个运动员获得奥运铜牌，他父亲的反应竟然是“他这辈子浪费了”。这种残酷完全不应来自一位父亲，同时也不应来自任何人。奥运铜牌啊，多了不起啊。
    看到吴景彪的痛苦和道歉令人心碎。我们中国人难道是如此残酷的民族吗？还是我们本性习惯使然。记得1990年代在夏威夷打沙滩排球，我失误后，同队的其他国家的人都说："Good try." 要在中国，队友可能就给你眼色和脸色了，甚至说：“臭球”。
    我们中国人必须真正认识体育精神的真谛。我更希望看到的是中国从政府到民间在全民健身上展现奥运夺金的那种热情。奥运金牌或许在某种程度上、在表面上能证明什么，在面子上好看了。但这决不可推论为一个国家实力如何。只有全民健身全民体育普及和兴旺，这个民族才真正有实力。
    中国这些年大搞基础建设，但又有多少钱花到全民健身者上面？不管中国这次在伦敦奥运上夺得多少金牌，我们中国急需的是一个最有分量的全民参与体育的金牌。

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43AIsrk2wtw&feature=plcp

  

Gold medal for public sports

By Chen Weihua

Watching Chinese weightlifter Wu Jingbiao burst into painful tears, and then bow and apologize in front of cameras after having to settle for a silver medal in the London Olympic Games was nothing but heartbreaking.
The 23-year-old’s tears should not have been for failing to win the gold. Instead, they should have been tears of happiness. After all, a silver medal also represents triumph, although many expected him to win the gold.
No one should blame Wu, not even the athlete himself. Athletes should be applauded and celebrated as long as they try their best, regardless of what place they finish in a contest. This Olympic spirit, however, is not well understood by most Chinese, officials and the public alike.
Many Chinese still believe that the gold medal tally at the Olympics is proof of a country’s strength in sports. Many may recall the humiliation in the 1936 Berlin Games when all but one Chinese athlete was eliminated in the preliminaries. It resulted in a Singapore-based newspaper mocking China as the “Sick Man of East Asia”.
Chinese sharpshooter Xu Haifeng’s gold medal in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles was widely regarded as an achievement that finally washed that disgrace off the Chinese athletes.
From then on, Chinese have proved that they can win gold medals, and lots of them, as was seen at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, where China bagged 51 gold, more than any other country. China has proved that again in the first week of the London Games as it continues to lead the gold medal tally.
There is nothing more to prove for China. And there is no need for Chinese to be obsessed with gold medals any more.
Wu’s apology was apparently because of the high expectation people had from him. China’s central and local governments have invested huge amounts to train each Olympic athlete and coaches have tried their best to prepare them for the events. As a result, a nation infatuated with gold medal is watching.
Perhaps that’s why silver and bronze medalists, who too are great athletes, are often treated like losers. For example, Yi Siling was in the spotlight for winning China’s first gold medal in 10-meter air rifle at the London Olympics, bronze medalist Yu Dan was largely forgotten.
The good thing is that there seems to be a mass awakening on such blind pursuit and worship of gold medals. In news media and blogs both, people have voiced their support for Wu and condemned the over-glorification of gold medals.
We should start a debate on whether the gold medal tally really reflects the strength of a nation, a notion that is deeply flawed.
Despite China winning more gold medals than any other country in 2008, sports at the grassroots level in China has long been ill funded and always lacked facilities.
My colleagues and I play soccer every weekend in Manhattan and Queens of New York City, and I know it is almost impossible to find such a field for free in either Shanghai or Beijing. In Beijing, you have to pay 1,500 yuan ($240) to rent a soccer field for two hours in a university opposite the China Daily office.
The lack of sports facilities in China has discouraged public participation in sports. It is in sharp contrast to what I have seen in cities outside China.
The Ibirapuera Park in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for example, has two great museums for Afro-Brazil and contemporary art. Yet what impressed me most during my visit there a month ago was the influx of young people jogging, biking and skateboarding in the park. That is also a daily scene in New York Central Park and along the banks of the Hudson River.
China has invested immensely in the Olympics for the sake of national pride, but it is public participation in sports that is worth more than all the gold medals. It is also a true reflection of a nation’s strength.