China Winners, America Losers

By now at the end of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, the world is simply all praises for host nation China. It was the superb Games they organised and the gracious welcome the Chinese gave as they went full-gear to take on the world stage. The People's Republic also broke record for being the first nation to attain 51 gold medals, the most number ever. Thus it is the first time China tops the Olympic medal tally charts, a spot normally dominated by the United States and the former Soviet Union (now Russia). It clearly reflects China's rise in this Asian century. But Uncle Sam is unhappy. Compare the two charts below showing the final top 11:

The tally above is the somewhat official chart with China on top due to its highest number of gold, as these charts normally depict. It is of course a fact that the US do get the most number of medals in total but by the standards accepted by all civilised nations of the world, this chart is the accepted version and thus appeared in all the newspapers in the world, except...

the American ones. The US media chose to depict the chart which shows the total medal tally as being the top. So not surprisingly, the United States is at the top of the charts, with China second. I mean, how irritating is that? This move has already drawn huge criticisms from many parties. Here is America, who could harp on Michael Phelps endlessly for his 8 gold medals, but simply feel insecure over China's overall performance in its own homeground? And they have the cheek to keep repeating on the Chinese media being too restricted when its own so-called free media has not openness enough to embrace true victory? I would say shame on you America. You are the losers. When people remembers the Beijing Olympics, surely they would know the Chinese are the real winners.