Chinese gymnasts inspired by bulletin board material
August 20, 2008 | 2:00
am
BEIJING -- Who gets the credit for China winning nine gold medals in gymnastics?
We do -- the media.
Or, we should say, the Chinese media.
Just like football coaches in the United States do when their teams are dissed in newspapers, Ha Yubin, one of the coaches for the Chinese gymnasts, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that they used the negative commentary after China won a mere one gold medal in gymnastics four years ago in Athens for inspiration.
"After the failure in Athens, we put all the critical media articles up on the walls of our gyms," he said.
What would teams do without us?
-- Randy Harvey
Photo: Chinese athlete Chen Yibing after his exercise on the rings, for which he won the gold medal. Tibor Illyes / EPA
