First let me congratulate the Chinese people on throwing a fantastic party, and for winning 51 gold medals. Truly an outstanding performance!

Now, let me offer my condolences to every athlete who had aspirations to any of the 119 gold medals that the Chinese government has targeted. Now it’s obvious some of the gold’s are in high-profile events, but some are not so high profile. And I am really talking about the less high-profile sports. Where people with few resources who had talent could compete on the global stage.

It’s almost comically unfair. You have obscure sports, that by the nature of their obscurity, have marginal amounts of money, are labors of love, and don’t immediately attract the best athletes.

These sports exist on the fringes of the Olympics. Some people care about them passionately, but for the rest of us, they don’t exist. And in many ways, I believe those sports represent the best part of the Olympics.

Unfortunately, the Chinese government has decided that they want those medals. And the Chinese government will apply the full power of their resources to get as many of those medals as they can.

And you have to believe that although it will take time, they will win those medals. China has the people, the money and the determination to win those medals. And that the amateurs, who did this as  a labor of love, who could aspire to a medal will be consigned to even more obscurity. Yes talent counts for something, but so does training, preparation and coaching.

So I feel sad, because on the fringes of the Olympics were sports where the true amateur spirit of the Olympics lived, free from the over-the-top professionalism and over-the-top-jingoism and now China’s Project 119 will make those sports just as professional and jingoistic as the rest of the Olympics…