Games survived haze

Chinese people worked hard to put on a good show

BEIJING -- The Beijing Olympics were like the marathon won by Samuel Wansiru of Kenya on Sunday: off with a bang, run at an unbelievable pace and finished in record time.

China's showcase games were impressive, from the precision of the opening fireworks to the spectacle of the closing fireworks. They were certainly the "best ever," as Juan Antonio Samaranch used to say after every Olympics (except Atlanta), in terms of efficiency, technology and athletic performance.

Who can forget Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, who won a total of 11 gold medals and set a total of 10 world records? The U.S. basketball team reclaimed gold with a 118-107 win over Spain. For the first time, China surpassed the U.S. in the gold-medal count, 51-36, a reflection of its growing superpower status.

But the games of the fascinating but unlovely city of Beijing weren't perfect, even though fast times bloomed like water lilies. You got the sense that Big Brother was watching you in this authoritarian state and that much of what wowed the world was painstakingly scripted.

The hosts put on a grand show, watched by more TV viewers than ever before, yet it did not evoke the usual Olympic emotion, and most of us are suckers for Olympic emotion.

The 2008 version of the sporting ritual that dates to 776 B.C. began with insistence that the gray air clinging like soot to the roof of the city was merely "haze." During the opening ceremony inside the oppressively hot Bird's Nest Stadium, flags fluttered in a fake breeze. The cute 9-year-old girl who sang the theme song was lip-synching; the 7-year-old whose voice was so beautiful didn't appear on stage because her teeth were crooked.

Later, we found that the sold-out "People's Olympics" were not and that the empty seats were being filled with volunteers.

The Chinese people, by the way, were tireless, from the squads of restroom attendants to the masses of friendly greeters at every doorway. They work hard. You'd see them in the middle of the night asleep at their desks, on bus benches, even leaning on their bike handlebars.

Turns out many of the volunteers were told, "Help or else; give up your vacation time or get a black mark in your work unit file."

Women's gymnastics was a perfect example of China's ultra control. The Chinese won the team gold for the first time, beating the U.S., but at least three of their athletes may have been underage, according to Internet records and media reports. U.S. team coordinator Martha Karolyi calls them "the little babies" in a coochy-coo voice. They don't look like they are or will turn 16 this year, as rules require. Shirley Temple in her child star heyday looked older than parallel bars champ He Kexin. But China insisted their passports are true and managed to avoid an investigation until now.

What's the true story behind hurdler Liu Xiang, who laid a huge egg at the Bird's Nest? We may never know. After a reclusive season, he hobbled off the track in pain without clearing a hurdle.

At the Water Cube, which looks like it was enclosed in bubble wrap, records were as numerous as Chinese soldiers, standing at attention at seemingly every corner, gate and highway exit -- when they're not marching. In nine days of competition, 24 world records fell.

Things went very smoothly for Phelps, with the exception of the close 4x100-freestyle relay comeback by Jason Lezak and the finish of the 100 butterfly, in which Phelps outtouched Milorad Cavic even though it looked the other way around. Some have questioned whether China controlled that, too.

Jamaica's Bolt ran so fast he could even celebrate through the last meters of the 100 and still set a mark of 9.69.

China now faces the Olympic hangover. It's a country beset by critical problems including pollution, water shortages, government corruption. The state-run sports system is one of the last bastions of communism, but that's facing market pressures as athletes demand more independence from harsh, hermetic lifestyles and penalties for "excessive commercial activities."