Olympic and World Champion athlete Lin Dan (林丹) has said it’s very difficult to enjoy competition like his long time rival, Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat. But make no mistake; Lin Dan beat Taufik 2-0 at the Asian Games Badminton Men’s Semi-finals. Despite the loss, Taufik was very relaxed and stated that he no longer worries about winning or losing games. He further went on to say that he didn’t feel the slightest sense of pressure and just wanted to enjoy the game.  

  
 Lin Dan 林丹                                                                         Taufik Hidayat

However, behind Lin Dan’s expressions of joy, an even greater sense of determination and desire to win is written across his face. “I also want to enjoy the game, but when I look back at my team, I feel pressure and I’ll want to do even better,” he said.

Lin Dan has already taken the world’s top honours in his sport, so why did he not just “enjoy the game” like Taufik? One reason is that both athletes have different living conditions. Lin Dan is always full of passion and has the fighting spirit of a warrior. He is always focused on his career, winning or losing competitions is still very important for him. Taufik is a family man, a father of two. After entering this new stage of life, winning or losing just doesn’t seem as important in the grand scheme of things.   

Perhaps even more importantly, it stems form two different training styles. Taufik came from a club; his talent was noticed early on and was consequently recruited into the national team. Lin Dan spent his childhood in a sports school and on professional teams, only eventually reaching the national team. Lin Dan is a beneficiary of the Chinese three tiered training system. Comparing the two, the latter was developed by state training for national competition. No matter what, his success or failure is head and shoulders above the scope of personal honour, and Lin Dan’s stress is non-comparable to Taufik’s. As the women’s 63 kg judo athlete Hao Yan said, “The state and the team did not cultivate us for nothing; if we have not won competitions before we are 30 years old, we lose all hope.”

A large group of excellent athletes winning honours for their country is due to a unique training system but at the same time, the road to success for these top athletes is full of hardship. Top athletes, such as Lin Dan, must cherish their hard-won success. Those that understand Chinese sports know that it’s not only Lin Dan, but all athletes representing China in the Asian Games that have difficulty “enjoying” the games.

Indeed, success in athletics encourages the sprit of the people and promotes the country’s self-image, making indelible contributions to development. But even an increasingly strong, fast growing China will always remember the derogatory term “sick man of Asia” buried beneath the dust of history. Isn’t it about time we start having athletes that “enjoy” the competition?

So what kind of view on gold medals should we establish? Is acquiring more gold medals our fundamental objective? Presently, China is striving to change from not just a country that produces top athletes in a national centralized system, but to one who has talented amateur athletes who participate not just for their own livelihood. Perhaps rather than compete and struggle for more gold and silver medals, we should have more people enjoy the benefits and happiness obtained from sports.
 

Source:  Xinhua

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Keywords: china athletes Asian Games chinese athlete enjoy competition china athlete pressure