英语阅读：Too much pressure is not good
Liu Xiang is under enormous pressure.He is expected to deliver China's only gold-medal in the track and field
event in the coming Beijing Olympics. He won at the Athens Games four years ago,
and held the 110m hurdles record until Cuban athlete Dayron Robles broke that
record by 0.01 seconds.
Since June, Robles has won seven championships out of eight. Liu, on the
other hand, was suffering from a sore hamstring.
Things do not look good for China's biggest athletic star. If he does not
win gold, 1.3 billion people will be disappointed. As one commentator said, even
a silver or bronze will not be good enough.
China is expected to win quite a few gold medals, especially in table
tennis, gymnastics, etc. But a gold in the 110m hurdles is bigger than any of
them. It shatters the stereotype that Asians are intrinsically weaker in track
and field events.
This reminds me of Zhu Jianhua, another star athlete from Shanghai. Before
the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the high jumper repeatedly won world championships,
setting three world records within a short period. Then, when it mattered, he
took home only bronze.
I still remember the day of his astounding defeat. The year 1984 was a time
China did not have much live transmission of sports events or many television
sets. Dozens of students crammed into a single dorm with a TV, and CCTV, not yet
dexterous with talking heads or commercial breaks, kept us waiting for Zhu
Jianhua.
He only cleared 2.31 m - disappointing for someone whose record was 2.39
m.
If we had Internet then, the virtual spitting from across the nation would
have drowned him.
I fear the same fate might befall Liu.
A random browse of media commentaries turned up statements like: "If he
doesn't snatch the Beijing Olympics gold, all his previous successes will come
to nothing." I hope those who have access to him do not give him this kind of
"encouragement". The last thing Liu needs right now is more pressure.
In a sense, both the public and officialdom in China are like the
archetypal parents. They pin all their hopes on a few promising children. You
will see a pattern if you study parents who prepare their children for the
annual national college entrance exam. They cook for their kids, make their
beds, buy them expensive placebos disguised as omnipotent health supplements,
even rent them rooms in luxury hotels so that they can concentrate on their
studies.
The only thing they are stingy with is to give the kids a break -
mentally.
I have seen so many parents trying to hammer home the importance of
diligence that I am surprised the suicide rate of high-schoolers is not higher.
That is why I feel Han Han the young writer has set a good example by defying
parental expectations and refusing to go to college. Someone needs to tell the
parents that good intentions alone may not constitute parental guidance.
Many in China do not seem to realize that pressure in the form of pep talks
work to only a certain extent and for certain people. Beyond that, adverse
effects start to kick in. Kids are by nature rebellious, and too much pressure
will only intensify their defiance.
Athletes like Liu do not need admonition of any kind. They know too well
what their performance means. What they need is an approximation or even a
semblance of normalcy.
Do not turn Liu into another Zhu. Do not make the terrible mistake of
pressuring him till he buckles. Cheer him if he wins; comfort him if he loses.
Whatever the result, he is our pride.
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