Image will dull success

China made it a point that it wanted to be the overall medal winners when they hosted this year's Olympic Games. So far, so good. Then again, why should China expect anything less? The government-supported sports machine is infamous for taking children from their families at a very young age and training them full time to be the next great gymnast or track star or diver. They rarely see their families and their every move is dictated by their chosen sport.

But what does China hope to accomplish? Does the country believe it will be looked at in a favorable light because it won the medal standings? That seems to have worked out well for the United States -- not. Ever notice our country is one of the most hated in the world? You don't hear, "Death to America! Except for that Michael Phelps guy. He's a pretty good swimmer."

China's success in athletics won't cover up the fact that it is still a Communist country with a woeful human rights record, lung-burning smog and continues to support Sudan, despite the tragedy in Darfur. No amount of gold medals will change that.

Like many misguided parents and athletes in this country, being good at a sport does not make you a good person. Likewise, it doesn't automatically make China a good country.

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A lot has been made of the American men's and women's gymnastic teams -- both had a chance to do something special and each team blew it.

And it wasn't because they were getting jobbed by the judges or some kind of age scandal. The women lost gold and the men lost silver in very simple ways: They choked.

Not only did they choke, it was the captain for each team that made the biggest errors. On the men's side, captain Kevin Tan blew it on the rings (his specialty) before nearly falling on his face during his pommel horse routine. Hello, bronze medal.

For the women, it was captain Alicia Sacramone who fell off the balance beam before landing flat on her backside during her floor exercise. Hello, silver medal -- again.

My question is: Who named these two captains? For the men, it became obvious real early on Jonathan Horton was the real leader of the team. On the women's side there was no doubt Shawn Johnson -- who is the reigning world champion -- was captain.

Plain and simple, the Americans' fumbled away the chance to earn better medals.

Much like any other huge sporting event, the best don't necessarily always win -- it's the ones that perform the best on a given day. In gymnastics, it was the Chinese.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by e-mail: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 117.