Subject: CND Summer Olympics Special Issue (XV), August 11, 1992

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 92 01:21:40 -0500

* * *  C h i n a   N e w s   D i g e s t  * * *

                             (News Global)

	       Special Issue on 1992 Summer Olympics (XV)

	        	 Tuesday, August 11, 1992

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Table of Contents                                                 # of Lines
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1. Chinese Olympians Return to Prizes and Media Accolades ............... 53
2. Zhuang Yong Cleared in Drug Test ..................................... 39
3. Theme of the XXV Olympics: Share the Wealth .......................... 66
4. Postcripts to the XXV Summer Olympics ............................... 138
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1. Chinese Olympians Return to Prizes and Media Accolades ............... 53
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>From: Chongyu Hua, <[email-masked]>
Source: UPI, August 10, 1992

BEIJING (UPI) -- Much of China has been transfixed on the Olympics for the
past two weeks, as government television broadcast some 250 hours of Games
coverage.

Chinese medal winners are returning to receive small fortunes, by local
standards, in government prizes, with gold medalists receiving cash awards
equivalent to $14,000; silver medalists netting $9,200 and bronze medalists
receiving $5,000.

Companies and other groups have added prizes that could bring each gold
medalist's haul to more than $35,000 in a nation where even well-off workers
earn less than $1,000 a year.

The state-run media Monday lavished praise on Chinese victories in the
Barcelona Olympics, crediting the athletic success to the country's economic
reforms and claiming China is becoming a world "sports giant."

Among those singled out for praise were pixie diver Fu Mingxia; Chen
Yueling, who won China's first-ever gold in Olympic track and field for the
10-kilometer walk; and table tennis champion Deng Yaping, the country's only
multiple gold medal winner with two.

Major government and Communist Party newspapers carried nationalistic
editorials, summed up by the flagship People's Daily, which in a front-page
article called China's medal winnings at Barcelona "a great gift to our
motherland."

Several newspapers also claimed Barcelona had enhanced China's chances of
winning its bid to host the 2000 Olympics in Beijing, on which Chinese
leaders have staked considerable prestige. None of the editorials said
exactly how it had helped.

China finished fourth in the overall medal standings with 54 total and 16
golds, well above the 5 golds and 28 overall at the 1988 Seoul Games.
Chinese athletes also won the country's first-ever golds in swimming and
track and field.

Although the editorials were largely free of the political propaganda that
China has used to exploit such events in the past, the party newspaper
Guangming Daily claimed Barcelona gold was a product of free-market economic
reforms and the "open door" policy.

The official Xinhua news agency crowed the Games put a new glow on Asian
athletes, noting their "expected dominance" in sports, "which specially
require quickness, balance and flexibility," adding they made
"breakthroughs" in events dominated by Westerners.

But it also acknowledged Asians had "exposed their vulnerability in team
sports," saying they "have a very long way to go" in some events.

The China Daily even cautioned humility, saying Chinese should remain "cool
headed."

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2. Zhuang Yong Cleared in Drug Test ..................................... 39
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>From: A CND Reader
Source: South China Morning Post,  August 4, 1992
By: John Crean in Barcelona

Chinese swimmer Zhuang Yong has cleared her name after a whispering campaign
in Barcelona suggested her medal-winning performances were drug-assisted.

Zhuang was dope-tested after her silver medal in the 50 metres freestyle
last Friday and an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Drugs Control
Commission spokesman confirmed yesterday the sample was negative.

Mr Zhong Tianfa, a spokesman for the Chinese delegation, said they were
relieved about the result.

"Now we can safely say all those allegations against Zhuang Yong were not
true," said Mr Zhong.

"We have warned our athletes that they should not use any drugs because they
are here to represent the country.

"We told them it would be a disgrace to their country if they used drugs and
it would jeopardise our chance of holding the 2000 Olympics," he added.

The 19-year-old Zhuang from Shanghai was not tested after her gold medal
swim in the 100 metres freestyle the previous Sunday, giving rise to
speculation that any drug-taking by the Chinese women's team would pass
unnoticed.

IOC officials stressed that gold medallists were not tested automatically in
the swimming events and that there had been no attempt by Zhuang to avoid
the procedure.

"She was tested on Friday after she won another medal," said the IOC drugs
commission spokesman.

Zhuang, the world champion in 50 metres, also won a silver in the 4 x 100
metres freestyle relay.

The strong Chinese women's swim team lifted four golds and five silvers in
Barcelona to confirm their status as one of the leading nations in the
sport.  Press spokesmen for the Chinese delegation were yesterday
unavailable for comment on Zhuang's negative drug test.

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3. Theme of the XXV Olympics: Share the Wealth .......................... 66
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>From: Huijie
Source: AP, August 10, 1992
By: John Raby

BARCELONA, Spain - Medals, medals, everywhere.

Olympic medals were awarded to a record 64-nations in Barcelona, breaking
the mark of 52 set at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

The head of the U.S. delegation couldn't be more pleased.

"The rest of the world has gotten closer to all of the `superpowers' of
track and field and swimming and other sports.  We are going to have 'world'
games now," Dr. LeRoy Walker said Sunday.

"I think it's going to encourage us, now that we know the competition's
tougher, to be more in focus about world competitions and the Olympic
Games."

Although the number of countries winning 10 or more medals was about the
same as four years earlier, more than a third of the 171 participating
countries in these boycott-free Games took home gold, silver or bronze.

Then there was the emergence of African nations, which won a total of 24
medals, 19 in track.  At the 1988 Games in Seoul, African nations won just
14 medals, 11 in track.

"We thought for years that the African continent could only produce long
distance runners," Walker said.  "If you looked at the sprint races, almost
50 percent of the finalists in the 100 were from Africa nations."

Walker credited the assistance of U.S. coaching in non- traditional
countries.

"I went into China as early as 1975 and again in '82, '83 and '84.  I think
it was expected that we would help them and not teach them the wrong
things," said Walker, who coached the U.S. men's track team in the 1976
Olympics.

The Unified Team won the medals race with 45 gold and 112 overall.

The United States was second with 37 gold and 108 overall, 14 more than four
years earlier and its best finish in a non-boycott Olympics since 1968, when
it won 45 gold medals and 107 overall.

Even some of the world's reborn countries have something to brag about.  The
Baltic republic of Latvia won three medals, for instance.

And a newcomer, Croatia, which gained independence from Yugoslavia last
year, also won three.

Winning two medals were the former South African territory of Namibia; the
ex-Yugoslav republic of Slovenia; Lithuania, for 52 years an unwilling part
of the Soviet Union; and Estonia, Latvia's Baltic neighbor.

So unfamiliar was Estonia's flag that Olympic officials flew it upsidedown
during the medals ceremony.

Yugoslavia won three medals in individual sports.

The union of two countries hasn't necessarily meant an increase in medals.
East Germany and West Germany won a combined 142 medals at the Seoul
Olympics.  The unified Germany won 82 medals in Barcelona.

The host country's medal count surged for the second straight Olympics.
Spain won 13 gold medals and 22 overall, both Spanish records.  In Seoul,
Spain took home one gold and four medals overall, while host South Korea won
33 medals.

The number of countries winning medals could increase further.  Beginning
with the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway, the former Soviet
republics no longer will compete under the umbrella of a Unified Team.

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4. Postcripts to the XXV Summer Olympics ............................... 138
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>From: A CND Reader
Source: Compiled from UPI reports of August 7, 8, 9

Soccer is one of the few sports -- perhaps the only one -- whose own
championships, the World Cup games, are bigger than its Olympic competition.

However, Saturday night's final presented a strong case for soccer's being a
viable part of the Olympic Games, despite speculations that the sport may
be dropped from the Olympics.

First of all, there was the electricity provided by some 95,000 fans that
jammed Estadi Nou Camp to cheer host Spain. There also was the tension and
pressure of a well-played match that went down to the last minute --
literally.

But perhaps most importantly, FIFA can point to the fact that one of the
world's top soccer nations won the gold medal.

Perhaps the national pride of being the host country played a part, but
Spain's victory proved that soccer's powers can provide a quality tournament
if their governing bodies care enough to field their best under-23 players.

To differentiate Olympic soccer competition from the World Cup, FIFA imposed
an age limit of 23 on eligible players. But many of the world's soccer
federations -- especially in Europe and Latin America -- don't take the
Olympic tournament very seriously. Many world soccer powers were said to not
have sent their best players to Barcelona. Interest from the fans was also
low, as the first round matches averaged just over 9,000 spectators.
			       ___  ___  ___

Germany entered its first Olympic Games since 1964 as a unified country and
won 33 gold medals. But beyond the glitter not everything was golden.

"The result looks satisfying at first glimpse, but taking a closer look it
was only three federations that fared well," said Ulrich Feldhoff,
Germany's chef de mission.

Twenty-seven of the German team's 81 medals, including 21 silvers and 27
bronze, were collected by canoeists, rowers and cyclists.

No German official expected a repetition of the 1988 Seoul Games when West
and East Germany, competing as separate countries, won a record 142 medals,
including 48 gold, between them.

The East German athletic system was unique. But the end of the cold war
erased the need for Germany to demonstrate its superiority through sport.

Although the overall performance could have been better, Feldhoff said that
the appearance of the team was equally important.

"For me the best result is that the team really grew together in these
weeks, although the East versus West issue was brought up several times,"
he said. "The way the team presented itself was just superb."
			       ___  ___  ___

The Dream Team caught a chartered flight out of Barcelona five hours after
routing Croatia Saturday night for the gold medal, the exquisiteness of its
basketball matched only by the brazenness of its merchandising.

The question was never if the Dream Team would beat Croatia. The only
element of suspense was how the players would dress for the medal ceremony.
Some had contracts with a sponsor other than the one affiliated with the
U.S. Olympic Committee. To whom would they pledge allegiance, their own
sponsor or another sponsor? This has now become the terrain on which the
Olympics is waged.

So the players did what many before them have done: They hid behind the
flag. With cameras flashing, crowd buzzing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan
and Charles Barkley stood with American flags draped over their shoulders
like Roman emperors heading for the baths.

But this was no banner to carry into battle, no symbol of pride or passion.
This was essentially a blanket designed to cover the name of an opposing
sponsor. You want to talk about desecration of the flag? This was it in
living color -- in red, white and blue.
			       ___  ___  ___

How about some hurdles, slightly used?

The closing of the Barcelona Games marks the kickoff to a huge going out of
business sale, and organizers hope to recover more than $30,000 by selling
off Olympic leftovers.

Carmen Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the organizers, says there are more than
8,000 kinds of merchandise on sale: cars, cameras, telephones, 25,000 beds,
4,200 walkie-talkies and acres of carpeting.

On top of this is an uncountable numbers of Cobi, the cartoon mascot of the
Games, and thousands of Olympic flags banners and artworks. Even the symbols
of the Olympics are on sale -- some of the 10,000 Olympic torches carried
through Spain will go for about $140 each. Rodriguez, who ran a half
kilometer with a torch, purchased hers.

Like many of the Olympic workers, she also jumped at the chance to buy one
of the thousands of IBM computers used to organize the Games.

The sales effort began almost one year ago, with many Olympic workers
placing deposits on computers, cooking equipment or even the desk they
worked at, Rodriguez says.

About half the goods have found buyers. An auction will be held at the end
of this year to get rid of the remainder.
			       ___  ___  ___

More than 5,000 employees of the Olympic organizing committee will be
looking for work after Aug. 15, when nothing more than a skeleton staff will
remain to tidy up loose ends.

COOB, the organizing committee, is doing its best to help find jobs for the
army of secretaries, translators, drivers, medical technicians and other
helpers.

A 600-page book, listing the resumes of all of COOB's 1,000 longterm
employees has been circulated to Spanish employers.
			       ___  ___  ___

Some 1.5 million Olympic pins were exchanged during the Games. Which was the
most popular?

The Cobi mascot, modeled after a Spanish mountain dog.

Dream Team basketball pins and a Thai pin featuring an elephant were next.
The pin-trading center said the rarest one was the "friendship" pin of the
Swiss team.
			       ___  ___  ___

When it comes to paper work, the Olympics is big league.

Officials at the Olympic stadium said they distributed 2.75 million
photocopies of results sheets during the nine days of track and field
competition.

More than 3,800 films were collected from photographers at the track and
field events and each messenger ran the equivalent of a marathon, organizers
said.

The medical center at the Olympic Village was consulted 115 times. It said
the strangest request concerned a Tibetan plant extract. It was brought in
to see if it contained any substances on the IOC's list of banned drugs.

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