Summer Olympics Scandals

Much like years past, viewers around the world have been eagerly tuning into Beijing and watching this year's Olympic games. Fans have celebrated the success of Michael Phelps, cheered on Nastia Liukin, and enjoyed a number of other sports. However, for each success, the Games have been marked with devastating scandals and secrets. The following is a roundup of five saddening and/or salacious events that have taken place this year.

Perhaps the least scandalous story to break was that of the fireworks used during the opening ceremony. As Steve Tilly reports in "Blast it All! They Fake it," the series of fireworks that viewers saw was planned a year ahead of time. Officials site the difficulty and danger associated with recording fireworks as an issue to capture the true images. I can understand the fear for crews to have to film such an event, but I also think this situation could be avoided with careful planning. Every year, Chicago broadcasts a lovely firework display on the 3rd of July, and there is no doubt that the display viewers see at home is the same as what viewers see on the lake.

Another thought-provoking issue is that of the age of certain gymnasts, particularly He Kexin of the Chinese team. John Leicester, reporting for the Associated Press, states that Xinhua, which is the Chinese news agency, has proof that Kexin is only 13 years old. Olympics rules mandate that all athletes must be at least sixteen years old during the year of the competition to qualify. If Kexin is only 13 and allowed to compete, what does this say about the integrity of the Olympic games? Is this an oversight or a thoughtful accommodation to allow a powerful athlete to help lead a team to victory?

Many applauded the sight of 56 children who were said to represent the 56 ethnicities within China. Sadly, Richard Spencer writes in "Beijing Olympics: 'Ethnic' Children Revealed as Fakes in Opening Ceremony" that all 56 children were from the Han population in China, which makes up the majority of the country. I love the sentiment behind placing all 56 children together in a united front and can understand the difficulties that may have arisen trying to find children from different nations, but China had plenty of time to plan for this tribute.

And of course, no one can forget the ultimate dupe that we faced during the opening ceremony: adorable Lin Miaoke singing "Ode to the Motherland" was actually lip-synching to Yang Peiyi's voice. As this story broke, viewers got the message: looks overrule natural talent. Americans are not unaware of other lip-synching scandals that have influenced an artist's career: Milli Vanilli's career went sour after it was found that they did not record their own voices on the album, and Ashlee Simpson had to dig herself out a tough sport when her track skipped on Saturday Night Live. Meghan Daum, writer for the Los Angeles Times, suggests that even though the act of replacing one singer with another was wrong, as least when the true story came out, credit was given to Peiyi.

Overall, I have genuinely enjoyed watching the games this season. With any large event such as this, there are bound to be issues that abound. Even the scandals I have detailed above have not stopped me from watching. I wonder, however, how these events may affect other viewers. Do these occurrences cheapen the games? Do they change how we feel about sportsmanship, unity, and pride for the world? I'd be curious to see what others think.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-daum16-2008aug16,0,1693726.column