No regrets

The Olympics are a holiday. Definitely for the fans. But the Olympics in Beijing turned out to be non-celebratory. And now, after it’s over, for the first time in my fan career I don’t feel sad that the fire has gone out and it’s all over. Actually, it probably couldn’t have turned out any other way. The Olympics coincided with the war - day after day, and after that it was no longer possible to be sick sincerely and carefree. But the rest of the world followed the Games closely: after all, the Olympic Games are the number one world event, so after Beijing, in any case, there is something to think about.

"These were the best Games in history." In Beijing, this traditional sacramental phrase, of course, was appropriate. I think that holding the Games at the same level will now be difficult. Just as it will be difficult to beat China's fantastic medal record. China has put everything on this Olympics and poured so much money into it that even the richest but most reasonable countries simply cannot afford. 17 billion dollars! A billion for each day of competition! For that kind of money and with an inexhaustible human resource, with barracks discipline and army regulations, everything, of course, was doomed to approach the ideal. The best stadiums, the best Olympic village, all transport and everyday issues are at the highest level. They even managed to disperse and calm the heat in the end. Except that the language barrier remained almost insurmountable. But ten volunteers who did not speak English, at the very least, replaced one English speaker.

Naturally, the security problem that accompanies any major event was solved more easily in a semi-totalitarian country than anywhere else. Just like in Moscow in 1980. Of course, there could be no difficulties with unauthorized manifestations of solidarity with Tibet or anything else like that. In a country where unfreedom is a natural habitat, it is generally not difficult to solve problems of organization and order. Therefore, it will be almost impossible for London and all subsequent Olympic capitals to compete with Beijing in this sense. And thank God. Although, on the other hand, those who worked in Beijing sometimes simply enjoyed the ease of organizational problems.

On the eve of the Games, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the IOC warned of a record, incredible number of doping tests. That is, in fact, almost all participants had to be checked, and some more than once. The same Michael Phelps took tests just every day. But the predictions that major scandals await us, mass revelations of great champions who turned out to be dishonest, were not confirmed. It’s just that those who made these forecasts, including me, underestimated China. The ideal Olympics cannot be overshadowed by scandals. Let us again remember the doping-free Games in Moscow. How many people were caught in Beijing? Five, it seems. And four more... horses.

Five out of 10,000 thousand. Do you believe this? I don't believe. If there is evidence that they injected drugs almost openly right in the village (this is what our “high altitude climber” Rybakov claims, for example), then what is there to talk about. Five out of ten thousand is not even a statistical error. It's more likely just... an oversight. On the contrary, it's a lot! Or, as an option, these five are needed so as not to confuse the public with absolute zero. And who was caught? Not a single star. In only three events the medal table had to be changed, and in two cases the poor shooter from North Korea was caught. Well, who will feel sorry for North Korea! And the heptathlete from Ukraine used such an antediluvian, ancient and so easily exposed drug that it’s time to ask what she was even thinking about. By the way, Russia got the most out of doping: two of our fourth places turned into bronze medals. Thus, all anti-doping salvos died down even before Beijing. This includes a group of Russian track and field athletes suspected of tampering with samples, 11 caught Greek weightlifters, the entire Bulgarian weightlifting team, and several American runners who were deprived of medals at the Sydney Olympics! So it is possible that some of the heroes of Beijing will still hand over their awards and lose their titles - retroactively. Years later. But this will no longer be directly associated with the impeccable Chinese capital. The festival of clean sports has already taken place and closed. The rest is circles on the water.

Of course, you can say that if you are not caught, you are not a thief. Undoubtedly. That's why I don't name any names. I'm just using common sense. When Chinese champions with glassy eyes go to the start line and with the same eyes greet victory and listen to the anthem, it’s strange. When a weightlifter claims a world record as his starting weight, it’s strange.

In general, there are several clear signs of doping. For example, when a person shows a sudden and significant increase in results. How many such cases have there been in Beijing? Not even dozens - hundreds!

How many records were broken! And not just beaten, but literally beaten. It's no secret that athletes have come close to the limit of human capabilities. In the normal state of affairs, records should grow bit by bit, by hundredths, by kilogram, by centimeter. Soon they will begin to count time with an accuracy not to hundredths, but to thousandths, otherwise records will simply freeze. And here whole seconds were easily reset from records! And this is another important sign of doping. Albeit indirect, but in practice it has been confirmed more than once.

In this regard, many, of course, thought about Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. To dominate everyone so much in several types of programs at once - isn’t it strange? Our swimmer Vyatchanin said so directly that Phelps’ record is the result of pharmacology, and WADA simply does not know what to look for in him. So Vyatchanin needs to think first, and then speak. Because Phelps is almost certainly not an example of pharmacology. Doping helps you win, helps you break records, helps expand your body’s capabilities. But the athlete cannot maintain this level for a long time. And experts first heard about Phelps back in the last century! At age 15, he became the youngest American Olympian in history when he went to Sydney 2000. At the last Games in Athens, he was already close to breaking Mark Spitz's record, winning eight medals, six of them gold. Since 2003, he has been virtually unbeatable. With the help of doping, he would not have been able to achieve this level of results for such a long time. Phelps is a god in a swimsuit. This is the creation of the Lord. Probably the same as Usain Bolt. He, too, at the age of 15, won world championships among children two or three years older. If not for injuries, Bolt would have opened up earlier. So I hope that the two main heroes of the Beijing Games are pure athletes. Pah-pah. Thanks to these two, the Beijing Olympics will go down in history. We are fantastically lucky to see them here live. It is not so easy to assess this now. But as the years pass, it will become truly obvious what miracles these two guys have done.

Otherwise, these were Games that confirmed the trends of previous Olympics. 55 countries won gold in Beijing! 87 countries received at least one medal! And these medals became a cause for national celebration in many parts of the world. They became famous literally throughout the planet. The Olympic Games for such countries are the best, and often the only chance for propaganda. Distant islands, tiny states, kingdoms lost in mountains and deserts. The world had never even heard such names, and these states had no reason to declare themselves. But at the Olympic parade, billions (billions!) of eyes are looking at them!

And what if they win something! Afghanistan won the first ever medal and the entire country is said to have celebrated its taekwondo's bronze medal. And you can imagine how Jamaica celebrated the runners’ victories. And in Croatia, during Blanka Vlasic’s jumps, everything simply died out and all TV ratings fell, and after her failure there was general, total grief. In Russia, something national and patriotic was also expected, especially since the multimillion-dollar festivities of Euro 2008 were still fresh in memory. But it didn't work out. First of all, because of the war. However, there were not many winning reasons for new conversations about sport as a national idea. However, this is a separate topic and will be discussed separately.

And the last question. Will China be able to win overall team first place with such a margin in London as well? With such a gap, it definitely won’t be able to. But to win is quite possible. The Soviet sports system, multiplied by billions of human and multi-billion financial resources, will provide China with gold medals in industrial quantities for years to come.

Although, of course, from now on Chinese doping tests will not always be crystal clear. Three Chinese in boxing finals is a curiosity that is only possible in Beijing. Chinese pentathletes will not be allowed to choose the horses they like and go to the start not when they are supposed to, but when they want. China's gymnasts and divers will finally be able to see obvious mistakes without the need for microscopes. And the Chinese weightlifter will cease to be synonymous with the concept of champion. We will no longer see many Olympic champions of the Celestial Empire at big tournaments. These are “disposable” champions, prepared for the sole purpose of winning here and now.

And in general, at any Games the hosts show record results for themselves. How the Greeks shone four years ago - and in Beijing they had no gold and only four medals. The Chinese will also retreat. But all 100 medals and each of the 51 victories cannot be exaggerated, pharmacological and judicial. And America needs to be prepared for the offensive Number Two in world sports. Well, we will compete for third place. In London with the British, and then we’ll see. In the meantime, we say goodbye to Beijing, and I must admit, without much regret.