[Repost] Yali’s piece about Liu Xiang’s withdrawal from the race is quite interesting~

http://ariela.ycool.com/post.2927002.html
      I’ve also been a bit loquacious lately.
      After seeing Liu Xiang withdraw, once my own emotions had settled down a little, I thought: hmm, tonight I’m going online to look at the reactions from all sides.
      Sure enough, it was good reading. The Olympics are truly very good reading.
      Because we can infer that if Liu Xiang: 

1 announced his withdrawal two days in advance.
1.1 He would be cursed to death by everyone, still betraying the 1.3 billion people and the 56 nationalities, still lacking sportsmanship, still being irresponsible;
1.2 He would be cursed to death by everyone, because he might fear he could not defend his title, and so was faking an injury; 

2 walked the full 110 meters on the track,
2.1 He walked in lane one, which had no hurdles. Then he would be penalized by the referee for disrupting the order of the competition. He would be cursed to death by everyone, because being penalized out like that would embarrass the Chinese;
2.2 He walked along lane two, knocking over hurdles as he went. Then, before he had knocked over all 10, he would be penalized by the referee for violating the rules on knocking over hurdles and disqualified from competition. He would be cursed to death by everyone, because being penalized out like that would embarrass the Chinese;
2.3 In both cases he would still be criticized, because people would suspect he was putting on a show. The sports arena should not become his personal stage for tragic performance. People would warn him not to think too highly of himself and overshadow the rules;
2.4 In this situation, the suspicion that he was faking an injury could still not be ruled out. He would still be suspected of faking an injury and cursed to death; 

3 insisted on clearing one hurdle and then stopped.
3.1 He would be cursed to death by everyone, because he did not persist to the end, violating the Olympic spirit of never giving up, betraying expectations, cultivation, trust, love, etc.;
3.2 In this situation, the suspicion that he was faking an injury could still not be ruled out. He would still be suspected of faking an injury and cursed to death; 

4 exited the field with more grace, waving to the crowd in the stadium. He would be cursed to death by everyone, because apparently he still had the strength to wave, so he had not been injured to the point of being unable to run; 

5 stubbornly finished the whole race, only to destroy his own career and that leg.
5.1 He would be cursed to death by everyone, because he lacked long-term vision and rational judgment, was dazed by pressure, and had thrown himself away for nothing on the road to the gold medal;
5.1.1  The system of Chinese professional athletes would be cursed to death, because it was completely destroying health and violating the Olympic spirit. As if Liu Xiang’s leg hadn’t broken, the system wouldn’t have been found to have problems; 
5.2 He would be cursed to death by everyone, because he might already have lacked the ability to win gold, and so exaggerated the extent of his injury, leaving himself a tragic hero’s image, and retiring in glory; 

6 failed to win the gold medal. Ha.

      Young people really shouldn’t be too cynical.

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Gu Duan

2008-08-19 03:18 Hehe, I also wanted to see how Chinese netizens would react, and I came across yours first. I also wanted to list all the possibilities, but you’ve already laid them out~ So I won’t write a blog post after all; I’ll just repost this one~ Indeed, Liu Xiang’s injury can only be said to be an unfortunate event. His choice admits of no right or wrong. No matter which situation it is, those who want to curse him will always curse him, and those who support him will always support him. I’ve noticed that some people have clearly watched too much Saint Seiya, and really think that a burst of one’s little cosmos can overcome any pain and injury. That’s just too naive…… What I’m actually keeping in mind is Liu Xiang’s hundred-million-yuan personal accident insurance. Although it was a relapse of an old injury, it should count as quite an accident, right? Can he claim compensation?