by Xinhua sportswriter Zhou Yan
BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Five days into the competition of the
Beijing Olympic Games, avid sports fans of the host nation have been kept in great excitement by the Chinese athletes' steady momentum in their gold haul.
With the Chinese gymnast girls claiming their first ever Olympic team title in history, China pocketed another four gold medals to maintain its lead on the medal tally with 17 golds, 5 silvers and 5 bronzes.
As in any previous Games, every gold for China was well celebrated, with flash news on website homepages, newspaper headlines and pictures, as well as cheers and applause from the venue stands or in front of TV. But it was more than the Olympic champions that were in the spotlight.
The Chinese public, while savoring the delight of one Olympic victory after another on the home soil, have also cast their eyes on the "losing heroes," sharing their pains, admiring their efforts and looking forward to their future success.
"Winners or losers, all Olympians are heroes." This has become a catchphrase for the Chinese media and the home audience, tens of millions in number, over these days.
Carrying the unfading support from her affectionate fans, Du Li, China's favorite markswoman who wept after failing to snatch the
Beijing Games' first gold in 10m air rifle on Saturday, will reload on Thursday to vie for a medal in 50m rifle three positions.
"Du Li, please don't cry. You're still the hero in my heart," millions of Chinese audience said while wiping away their own tears on Saturday morning, after a sleepless night to witness the Games' grand opening. Some secretly found comfort in the superstitious belief that the host never grasps the Games' first gold.
The past five days have witnessed tears and laughters for most Chinese. The Olympic frenzy is white hot and it is impossible for the domestic fans to keep back their own tears when their heroes cry, in ecstasy or in grief.
When China's best Olympic swimming hope Wu Peng finished fourth in the men's 200m butterfly final on Wednesday, many people cried but very few complained.
"I did my best," said Wu, 21, after the game. "It's not that I was too slow -- it's my competitors were too fast. I hope I didn't let my father down."
Wu's father, who died in 2005, had always hoped to see him on the Olympic podium. For three years, the young athlete had worked hard to fulfil his father's dream. "Now I need to work harder for the next Games," he said calmly.
"Even without a medal, Wu has won glory for his country," his coach Chen Yunpeng said after Wednesday's competition.
Wu's fans have opened up dozens of online chatrooms at Baidu.com, a leading search engine, to voice their love and support for the swimmer.
"We do admire Michael Phelps, but we feel particularly proud of you," read a posting by a netizen called "Little Rabbit." "By competing with the world's fastest swimmers, you have become a hero. You have fulfilled the dream of all Chinese."
"Cheer up, dear Wu. We're always on your side," said another netizen named "Sura Zhong".
Similar cyber chatrooms are found for other heroic losers at Baidu.com and other leading Chinese websites these days, all bearing sensational names such as "Don't cry, Du Li," "Zhu Qinan, you're always the best," and "Luan Jujie, we love you."
The fans clearly felt Zhu Qinan's pains when the silver medalist of men's 10m air rifle burst into tears on the awarding podium, over a narrow defeat by India's Abhinav Bindra on Monday. "We look forward to seeing you compete again at the London Games," said the fans in their messages.
Chinese netizens, though some of whom felt uncomfortable with Luan Jujie's Canadian citizenship, almost unanimously told how much they were moved by the former Olympic champion when she held up a banner reading "Hello My Motherland" after her defeat on Monday.
The whole audience stood up and applauded. Gone was the barrier that once separated Luan and her Chinese fans, and memories of her past endurance and the honor she did to her homeland came back. Luan won a fencing gold for China at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
"I left China 20 years ago, and I'm so happy that many Chinese people still remember me," said Luan, who represents Canada in her comeback at 50.
She was eliminated in the round of 32 bouts after losing 7-15 to Hungarian Mohamed Aida, who is 18 years younger, but was received as a true heroine with no need to prove herself with another medal.
Thirty years after China began to reform and open up to the outside world, the Chinese have learned to respect others' choices -- and become more tolerant of failures, as long as efforts have been made.
And this is why the nation's love for Yao Ming, the 7-foot-6 NBA star playing for Houston Rockets, remains unchanged despite the fact that the Chinese basketball team he led have failed to deliver any miracle in the preliminary rounds against the United States and Spain.
"After all, the sportsmanship that Yao and his teammates have demonstrated in the competition is more precious than gold," said
Beijing school teacher Lin Hong, who watched both games.
In some cases, the Chinese fans' admiration and respect for the Olympians have been converted into warm-hearted suggestions and offer of real life assistance.
After Hungarian strongman Janos Baranyai suffered a dislocated right elbow in Wednesday's weightlifting competition, many Chinese netizens expressed their concerns and wished the athlete to "recover soon," suggesting he "try some traditional Chinese bone-setting therapy."
Some netizens even launched an online manhunt for the long-lost father of Guo Wenjun, who won the gold of women's 10m air pistol on Sunday.
According to media reports, Guo, 24, had secretly hoped her father, who walked out nine years ago and left Guo in the custody of her coach, would come back at the good news.
"Dear Wenjun, we'll do whatever we can to help find your father," read a posting seen at sina.com.cn on Monday.
The author called on other netizens, particularly those from Guo's home province of Shaanxi, to help find out her father's name, photo and whereabouts. At least two newspapers have joined the search, which had involved more than 100,000 people by Wednesday.
Editor: Xinhuanet
