By Spiro Zavos
August 14th 2008 @ 3:07am
Channel 7 are missing the real Olympic games
Channel 7 has set itself an admirable and heroic task of covering every Australian medal triumph at the Beijing Olympics. The network has thrown huge resources of staff and equipment to bring all the Australian moments of glory back to viewers across our vast continent.
This is great stuff for ratings, presumably.
It will also strike a chord with those partiotic supporters who think that the ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi!’ chant is a true Olympic chant.
But for me, and I suspect the majority of Australians, the Australian Olympics are not the only Olympics story we want to see and experience.
We don’t just want a visual record of Australian gold, silver and bronze medals. We want the whole experience of the Olympics.
We want to see and feel through vivid pictures and insightful words the triumphs and the disasters of athletes from around the world. Not just those from Australia.
Up to Wednesday, for instance, fourteen countries had won gold medals. Australia with three gold medals, one silver and nine bronze was fifth on the list. China (eleven gold medals), United States (seven), South Korea (five) and Italy (three), all had a higher rank.
Among the other gold medal winners were North Korea and Azerbaijan, along with the usual suspects Japan, Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Czech Republic, Netherlands and Slovakia.
Where were the stories of at least some of these medalists on Channel 7’s seemingly endless broadcast schedule?
The story behind the result somehow seems to be beyond the reporting skills of the broadcaster.
The print media, for instance, raised the matter of synchronised cheering for the local team at the gymnastics. The commentary team did not make any reference to this, and the possibility (or likelihood) that the judging might be affected by blatant stacking of the spectators.
China won the men’s and women’s team events in the gymnastics for the first time.
Was it a coincidence that it was the first time, too, that the teams performed before a rabidly enthusiastic home crowd?
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on a judging controversy in the Olympic shooting event in which the Chinese competitor, Hu Binyuan, won bronze in the men’s double trap when “on a least on three occasions in the tense final stages, Hu was awarded a hit by Chinese judges despite clearly missing the target.”
I watched the so-called News Updates throughout the day after this story was published to see some footage to verify this disturbing story, or evidence that the reporter somehow got the story wrong.
You would think that this story goes to the heart of the credibility of the Beijing Olympics, and the integrity of the Olympic ideals in actual practice.
But instead the update items involved Tasmyn Lewis repeating comments made about the inevitability of competing against drug cheats, and so on.
Talking about suspect judging, I watched Stephen Sutherland, the youngest member of the Australian boxing team, get beaten 14 - 2 by the experienced Tunisian, Walid Cherif.
Sutherland’s two points came at the end of the fight.
I must say that throughout the fight, I was amazed at the way the Tunisian was given points for punches that did not land cleanly, while Sutherland was not given points for his clean punches.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that whenever the Tunisian launched a punch, whether it landed cleanly or not, his supporters cried out to influence the judges.
The British commentators noticed the discrepancy in the way points were awarded, but I haven’t seen a follow-up story with evidence from the tapes of the fight, for or against, the judging.
And where was the detailed story on the News Update of the scandal, headlined in The Times, as: “China banned child singer with crooked teeth from singing at the opening ceremony.”
It was not on the main updates on Wednesday that I watched.
The Times Online have reported from Chaoyang Park, the Beach Volley Ball Ground, that during the women’s tournament 300 “fans” (The Times’ parenthesis) formed a cheer squad that was directed by two ladies instructing it to wave and shout out.
The Olympic spirit in play? I don’t think so.
What’s going on here?
My guess, although it is only a guess, is that Channel 7 is going out of its way to avoid embarrassing the host city and the Chinese officials it depends on for a thousand or more concessions to get its pictures and words through.
Also, despite the vast number of journalists and producers in the Channel 7 team, the organisation with its Sunrise-style of reporting just does not have the true journalistic culture that demands that stories are run and to hell with the consequences.
The IOC has already proclaimed these Olympics as “the best-run ever.” But I think one of the real stories of the Beijing Olympics that is emerging is the extent to which the Chinese authorities have gone beyond the bounds of fair play that is supposed to be an integral part of the Olympic spirit to ensure a huge haul of medals for their athletes and teams.
This is a story that is not being covered on television for Australian viewers.
Finally, here’s another coincidence that the Channel 7 might care to follow up.
The Australian men’s rowing eight was the only team to allow Chinese officials to examine the rudder of its boat for algae. Rudders never break down.
But as Kevin Rudd might say, “guess what?”
The rudder on the Australian boat became inoperable in the crew’s first heat, forcing the team to qualify for the final the hard way.
–
Photo by Elizabeth Chapman in Beijing
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Hoy said | August 14th 2008 @ 8:33am | Report comment
Good one Spiro.
I must say though that the Sunrise like team of Yum Chow had the Aussie shooter in there who was shooting after old mate Chinese shooter, and he said that the Chinaman also scored a hit that wasn’t given as well.
How is it though that there are Chinese judges for anything? Shouldn’t they be mixed international judges?
I don’t want to sound harsh but I think the Australian reporting is gliding over a few things in their chase for GOLD!! We aren’t really doing as well as we thought we would I don’t think. Michael Diamond lost, the Boomers are out, the Ollyroos are out, our road cyclists all failed to win a medal etc. We had some pretty high hopes for a lot of medals, and they are not coming through. In saying that, the “reporters”/panelists all must keep upbeat and positive about how well we are doing. I hate when they look at the “per capita” list. Clutching at straws. We just aren’t going as well as we first hoped we would.
Perhaps we have set a bar for these sports and are paying the price for not increasingly raising the bar.
I haven’t heard that the Chinese judges asked to see our boat. Amazing coincidink that.
I watched that boxing match and knew Australian boxing will never get a look in at Olympics. Same story last games, and it will be the same the next games. Why aren’t there enquiries into these sorts of results and the process of judging?
I also believe that the home ground advantage only goes so far. And when Chinese start dominating weight lifting, beach volley ball, going reasonably well as swimming, rowing etc, I can’t help but smell something funny. Please correct me if I am wrong, but were they ever world powers in any of those sports before?
Channel 7 is glossing over things to bring us the sunny side of the olympics, and I would also love to see some foreign hard luck stories. Phil Liggett is the only one who seems to know first hand the background of the athletes he is covering, other than recent results.
LeftArmSpinner said | August 14th 2008 @ 9:19am | Report comment
I agree completely. It is further complicated by the finals being in the morning when everyone is busy and then replayed numerous times in later programmes and news bulletins, creating confusion and frustration. Too hard.
gotta say that Jodie Henry is doing a great job on Sunrise. A star is born!
Tim said | August 14th 2008 @ 10:22am | Report comment
“And when Chinese start dominating weight lifting, beach volley ball, going reasonably well as swimming, rowing etc, I can’t help but smell something funny. Please correct me if I am wrong, but were they ever world powers in any of those sports before?”
The Chinese dominated weightlifting in Athens as well, and their beach volleyball team has been successful for years prior to the Olympics in venues outside of China. As for China having done ‘reasonably’ in the swimming and rowing - what results would indicate this to you? They’ve done better than they did in Athens, but the improvement has hardly been drastic. To put things in some perspective, Singapore - a country with very little interest in sport, and no dedicated program to manufacture Olympians - was mere fractions of a second away from producing a swimming medal. China, for all its preoccupation with the games, has only bettered that by a little. Not even the most partisan, one-eyed Chinese supporter would seriously state that they consider China to be world-class in the pool or the river.
IMO, irrespective of the organised cheer squads and (arguably) partisan judging, nobody is denying that the Chinese gold medal winners have so far been better than their closest opponents. Not even in the gymnastics, perhaps the most subjective of disciplines to score. There’s been controversy surrounding the age of the female gymnasts, but nobody has been seriously arguing that the Americans were robbed of a gold medal by biased judges. As for the men, they were so far ahead of their nearest competitors it most a virtual non-event.
The Chinese medal count at this current time, IMO, is hardly astounding or undeserved. Remember they finished with only 3 gold less than the United States in 2004, with no home support whatsoever. Key figures in the U.S.A team have spoken out months in advance of the Olympics and stated their expectation that China would overhaul the U.S on home ground.
So now that it’s happening, why are we all so surprised?
Spiro: Why should the Olympics be any different to a RWC final, with the home team expected to gain a tangible advantage from the energy and enthusiasm of the crowd? Isn’t fair play integral to the manifesto of THAT sporting event as well?
ohtani's jacket said | August 14th 2008 @ 10:42am | Report comment
Olympic coverage is the same in every country.
In Japan I can only see Japanese athletes compete live on terrestrial TV and if they win a gold medal it’s replayed over and over again while other sports are taking place.
Personally I’m tired of every John, Dick and Harry trying to uncover something scandalous about the Chinese organisation of the Beijing Olympics. I was tired of it before the Games when every sports writer suddenly became accutely aware of China’s human rights abuse. Everyone knew this would be a tightly controlled, highly orchestrated Olympics spectacle. Japan and Korea did the same thing to a far lesser extent when they hosted the FIFA World Cup. It’s simply part of Asian culture.
If you look past China vs. USA in the gold medal battle, there’s been plenty of fantastic performances.
Jameswm said | August 14th 2008 @ 10:45am | Report comment
What about all the empty seats at this first ever “sold out” Olympics?
It’s hard not to be very cynical about a lot of things.
Hoy said | August 14th 2008 @ 12:03pm | Report comment
Tim, I stand corrected. I never knew China was big in weightlifting. I guess I always associated it with Eastern Bloc countries.
Of course China was always going to do well in the medal count, as they have always had a high count. And I knew they have always had good gymnasts, so medals there are no surprise to me.
I guess my main surprise is the number of athletes they have poured into other events that they are not traditionally strong in.
sheek said | August 14th 2008 @ 12:05pm | Report comment
What’s the latest medal count? This seems ad nauseum to be all any of the media outlets think about.
Australia coming 5th…..Australia still 5th with…..Australia now 6th with…..Austalia back to 5th again…..blah, blah, blah!
Hoy said | August 14th 2008 @ 12:44pm | Report comment
Schipper just lost to 2 chinese swimmers. How is that Tim? Chinese Fly swimmers going one - two. The winner was a body ahead of the WR at finish.
ohtani's jacket said | August 14th 2008 @ 12:53pm | Report comment
I assume you guys aren’t familiar with Project 119.
http://opensourcemd.wordpress.com/2008/08/09/chinas-gold-medals-project-119/
cosmos forever said | August 14th 2008 @ 1:37pm | Report comment
the aussie girls are three body lengths in front of the world record in the relay. Is that fishy. Oh no - they are aussies!
agree Spiro - that boxing bout was a scandal, but one that will never be investigated.
Hoy said | August 14th 2008 @ 1:57pm | Report comment
I don’t think anyone expected a record breaker like that. Even second and third broke the record. Who was second? China.
What I am saying is that certain nations have form in certain events, and so it is more likely for those nations to do well at those events.
Australia would be fighting above our weight to get a medal in Gymnastics, as it is not something we are known for. That would be amazing if Australia beat China at Gymnastics, and people could question that then.
ohtani's jacket said | August 14th 2008 @ 2:20pm | Report comment
Japan and South Korea have medals in the pool too. Is that suspicious?
Rabbitz said | August 14th 2008 @ 2:43pm | Report comment
Is the pool really 50m long?, take a metre or so off and watch the records tumble!!! Makes the best ever games look even better…
If you think I am being unrealistic, the 1956 Olympic 50m rifle range was reportedly measured at about 48.5m after the games. Makes you wonder why it wasn’t measured before hand…
Tim said | August 14th 2008 @ 2:56pm | Report comment
Hoy: Now THAT seems highly suspicious to me. For a swimmer who hasn’t been setting the world alight to suddenly knock 1.2 seconds off a world mark… it seems impossible, surely. I expect she’ll undergo extensive testing.
Jameswm said | August 14th 2008 @ 3:04pm | Report comment
Rabbitz
If you ask Cate Campbell, she’d probably say it’s about 51m long in her lane.
Jamie said | August 14th 2008 @ 3:20pm | Report comment
I liken Channel 7’s Olympic coverage to eating rich chocolate cake. Its great at the start but the more you eat the sicker you feel. God i have a pain in my belly (and it’s only day 6)!!!!
I am proud of our recent Olympic history but the bias coverage and ‘one dimensional Australian view’ of the Olympics is driving me crazy. Surely Australians are better than this. Are we so self centred that we only want to watch Australians perform?
I did a quick poll at work and most agreed the Channel 7 coverage is nationalistic, repetitive and mundane. Fantastic Olympic moments and stories of triumph by other countries are ignored or hardly warrant a mention. With the 3rd largest media contingent (behind the US and UK’s BBC), Channel 7 has the resources to do a better job at covering broader Olympic stories.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi is a vulgar war cry and is all you will see on Channel 7. I love sport and the Olympics and i want to see something other than Australia’s Olympic moments.
Phil Coorey said | August 14th 2008 @ 5:53pm | Report comment
The broadcast is jingoism central - but like someone said - most are.
At least they are showing stuff live - try putting up with the charade NBC is getting away with at the moment in the USA.
I hate that per capita crap as well. How many more swimming events do we really need, btw?
stuff happens said | August 14th 2008 @ 6:01pm | Report comment
I agree with you Spiro but we both know that Channel 7 in Australia is ‘tabloid television’ most of the time and they can’t rise above this for the Olympics. There’s no quality test from the IOC ;it’s just about money. I was appalled at the the way they ignored Kirsty Coventry from Zimbabwe when she came 2nd to Stephanie Rice in the 400IM.But then I reminded myself that Channel 7’s usual audience couldn’t find Zim on a map and would not understand nor care what is happening in that country.
Having said all that I also remind myself how lucky I am to be able to sit in my living room and watch so many sports in glorious technicolour - I just try & ignore the commentary.
There is defintely something going on with the lack of spectators. During today’s marvellous swim by the Australian girls in the 200 relay there were heaps of empty seats at the pool ;same yeaterday for the cycling men’s road race - hardly anyone there. Where are they - afraid to leave home, carted off to a gulag.How sad.
sheek said | August 14th 2008 @ 6:07pm | Report comment
Guys,
There’s always going to be surprises & disappointments at every Olympics. Why think this is any different? Look at the pool today.
Rickard was a surprise over-achiever getting silver in the mens 200m breastroke. Then Schipper, who’s out of form, “only” bronzed in the womens 200m fly.
Then Sullivan added to the disappointment being fingernailed out of the gold in the mens 100m free. Then the womens 4×200m free relay were a dilightful surprise, heisting the gold medal. Swings & roundabouts - win some, lose some.
Our cyclists were bothered by injury, illness & lack of form at the right time. The Olympics are every 4 years. If your timing is out, re form, fitness, health, etc, you’re going to suffer. That’s the way it goes.
The Olyroos were always up against it. The Boomers were more hope than substance. So no surprises there really. However, by the end of the Olympics, lets hope we can win more gold than just inn the pool.
Is Australia really that great a sporting nation? We haven’t been a force in Athletics since the 1960s. That’s a useful litmus test of a nation’s sporting prowess.
Phil Coorey said | August 14th 2008 @ 6:55pm | Report comment
“Is Australia really that great a sporting nation?”
No
What makes a great sporting nation?? I don’t know and don’t care to be honest but we let the media tell us how great we are , especially around the time of the Olympics. It’s sad
cosmos forever said | August 14th 2008 @ 8:44pm | Report comment
it isn’t just the jingoisim, it’s the coverage of winners pretty much exclusively. If the AOC are happy with the coverage of a small number of sports when they are responsible for all sports in their confederation then they are a disgrace.
It takes just as much work for a softballer on third base to get to the olympics as a swimmer (and frankly swimmers get many many more chances at glory than a team that plays a tournament for one lousy medal) and the athletes should be acknowledged as much.
PS - is boxing the most racist sport in the world. I’m watching bout after bout on SBS where if you don’t have dark skin or come from the right country you simply don’t score when you hit someone…
Tiger Face said | August 14th 2008 @ 9:34pm | Report comment
I’ll tell you straight I’ve watched Olympics in Africa, UK, US and now Australia and the Australian coverage is an absolute disgrace.
The UK coverage was by far the best the BBC is the finest broadcaster in the world for the simple fact that they are publicly funded so they don’t have adverts and are committed to covering the Olympics in full. It’s not UK-centric and they have a host of international stars to sit in the studio and explain the thoughts, feeling, training and emotions of the athletes.
Christ…who do you think Thorpey is commentating for…yes BBC.
One of the most incredible things I saw in 2004 was Micheal Johnson explaining what the walk from the dressing room to an Olympic final start line is like. It was deeply emotional and he was articulate and brilliant and taking the viewer into a world that only the elite will ever experience.
I feel that Channel Seven don’t understand how sophisticated the modern sports fan is. In Australia anybody serious about sport has Fox Sports and is able to dine out on endless international sport. They don’t want to just watch Aussies they want to see the best people in the world doing what they do best.
Channel Seven has no analysis, no intelligence and they assume that everybody watching is of the Aussie, Aussie, Aussie variety.
We claim to love sport but speaking to lost of fans here from all over the world we come across as stupid, dumb, blinkered and thing the Olympics is one big swimming gala.
All in all. Appalling and an affront to every Australian that loves sport. We are better than this and until he media realise this we will always be seen globally as idiots from a backwards thinking society. It’s depressing, embarassing and has ruined my Olympics.
Sandy B said | August 14th 2008 @ 10:44pm | Report comment
Re: China - theyve got a home games, there’s one point (how many are they up to now) 1.6bill? to choose from, of course they are going to have a rip in as many events as they can. I think from memory they can enter every event, and I’m sure with a strong centralized system they were able to talent scout pretty effectively. I reckon they have also targetted (dare I say it - oh well here goes) soft sports with a clean sweep of diving, heaps in shooting etc.
Re Channel 7 - yes it is jingoistic and repetitive - too many studio crosses - gab gab gab. I have found the answer - sorry Sydney - but it means living in the push and having ABC radio going with Prime in the background turned down. ABC is exaclty what we want with adequate Australian coverage, but live coverage of all sports - if two or three are concurrent they just jump around between them. Susie O’Neill is an absolute diamond in the swimming commentary and Gerry Collins gives the correct level of knowledge and excitement. They just had a great interveiw with the sarah mcdonald whose 20 yo Aussie record in the 800m was broken by “our kylie” tonight. Bruce McAveny sounds like he’s already in the nursing home, Duncan Armstrong is inhibited by the incompetents around him, and Daniel “how do you feel” Kowalski is a waste.
The interveiw of Stephanie Rice went well tonight until the obligatory Eamon question which I think she ducked admirably - you could see her thinking - none of your business.
The Yanks will come back next week when the track events start - the Chinese will struggle there, but I still reckon they will, and will deserve to -win
in the meantime you sydneysiders may be able to pick up 2CR in orange on 549 AM - good luck
Sandy B said | August 14th 2008 @ 10:48pm | Report comment
sorry I meant bush not push - wouldnt want ot start up some old memories of the Sydney Push
Oh by the way ABC now updating the dressage - where is the Channel 7 at - more boring and irrelevant basketball
Jason Cave said | August 14th 2008 @ 10:58pm | Report comment
And expect to see more of the same in 2012 when Channel Nine takes over the Olympic broadcast rights-more ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi’ stuff, none form the other countries. It makes me wonder why ESPN doesn’t bid for the Olympics at all.
OpenSourceMD said | August 15th 2008 @ 7:01am | Report comment
China has poured in billions of dollars in preparation of these games. They benefit from a different style of sports selection, where athletes are picked when they are young and sent to their national camps to train. They have hired dozens of foreign coaches and trainers to improve their “weak events.” They have created project “119″ specifically for sports like swimming. They have a home-crowd advantage.
If you factor all these things in, it comes to no surprise that China will do better than normal in events they have traditionally been weak in. They want to come out on top for the gold medal count for this game and there’s no other country that wants it as bad as them. We’ll have to wait and see to see how China performs in the rest of the swimming events along with rowing and track and field.
Harry said | August 15th 2008 @ 1:23pm | Report comment
I can no longer bear listening to Duncan Armstrong doing the swimmer, he has that infuriating habit of calling Australian victories Before the race - exactly like a lot of rugby journalists did before the RWC 07 QF.
Why do this? If the athletes win its just arrogance and lose, well its just embarassing. its the sort of action that gives Australian a really bad name internationally.
By all means say why your confident of victory, but not his “No way can Leisel/Eamon/Libby be beaten” or Wayne Smith/Peter Fitzsimmons “we will crush the pathetic Poms”.
Fragglerocker said | August 18th 2008 @ 11:55am | Report comment
I noticed before Phelps was to attempt his 8th gold medal there was quite a few comments among Australian commentators and journalists, as well as from public comments posted on news websites, about how the Australian relay team would thwart his “dream of winning 8 gold meddals”. At one point the Australian teams comments seemed to imply their prime motivation for winning wasn’t representing their country but beating another country.
I remember one comment about Phelps claiming he was just a “typical loud-mouth, arrogant, self-centred ego-driven American”. I have to say that comment says more about the “typical” Australian who said it than the average American. I’ve yet to hear a Phelps interview where he even comes close to the arrogance shown by some Australian commentators. As an Australian who has visited The US and Europe on many occasions. The ‘welcome’ shown by Australians towards visitors from the US, UK, Japan, China doesn’t even come close to the warmth I’ve received on every trip I’ve made overseas. Now when I meet a visitor to Australia I give them a warm welcome - in spite of the constant recommendations of the Kochie and Channel 7 crowd.
Matthias Schreck said | August 18th 2008 @ 2:57pm | Report comment
Thank you for this article, there were quite a few events that I thought were ruled rather suspiciously! However, I would rather like to focus on how you also seemed to suggest that Channel 7’s reporting was quite one sided… ABSOLUTELY!!! I spent the first 25 years of my life in Germany, and therefore had the pleasure to be spoiled by what I can only call superiour Olympic broadcasting. In Germany, the Olympics are shown on the state owned channels, and therefore have no need for ad breaks. It also seems that the average sports commentator has much more common sense and common knowledge than their Australian counterparts. I had to witness so many ridiculous mistakes in the way Channel 7 was commenting on what was happening. However, what irks me the most is that on Channel 7, if there are no Aussie medal hopes in a competition, the competition doesn’t exist. A powerful example was when Channel 7 showed the very final 800 meter race of the Heptathletes… thank you Channel 7 for only showing the final event of what track and field enthusiasts deem the hardest competition! I have no problem with Channel 7 celebrating Australian medals, but then instead of blocking out vast amounts of times by showing ridiculous advertising and the most stupid slow motion montages I have ever seen, maybe you should show the other sports, the ones that don’t have a great Australian in it. Why, you ask? Well, maybe because the Olympics are about the WHOLE world come together to compete, and not exclusively about Australia going to a venue to win.
Channel 7, thank you for ruining the Olympics for me, and my heart-felt sympathies for all the athletes of sports that were deemed un-Australian by Channel 7.
executive.koala said | August 18th 2008 @ 4:01pm | Report comment
The white bread AFL and NRL protectionism in the media is coming home to roost. We give short shrift to anything considered “foreign” or “American” and as a consequence we can’t compete in world sports.
Great sporting nation, my arse. Narrow minded insular sporting backwater, more like.
Australian Rules - the game that made Australia, racist.
ohtani's jacket said | August 18th 2008 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
For all the griping, Australia aren’t that far off their medal count from Athens.
Redb said | August 18th 2008 @ 4:07pm | Report comment
‘white bread’ is not racist.
Redb