U.S. plans to snoop on China at Summit
Thursday, January 27, 2005
By ART THIEL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST
The point behind Bob Walsh's freshly crafted little sports jamboree here in June can be summarized in one word:
China.
Not that China has been sneaking up on anyone lately, but its recent Olympics achievements have underscored the idea that the nation some foresee as the economic colossus of the 21st century is heavily lathered about a coming-out party via sports.
China's debutante ball will be the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. But the Chinese effort last summer in Athens, where they finished second, three behind the U.S.'s gold medal count of 35, prompted a feeling that by '08, the home-nation athletes will be so geeked to bring glory to the People's Republic that "Oh, say can you see" will be heard mostly on U.S. naval vessels circling Taiwan.
China's growing eminence has been viewed archly by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
"We have made no bones about remaining No. 1," Jim Scherr, the USOC's chief executive officer, said yesterday at a Pacific Rim Sports Summit news conference at the Port of Seattle offices. "The Chinese have also said they want to become No. 1.
"It will be a rivalry for years to come."
Then he quickly added:
"A friendly rivalry."
Let's hope so. It would be unpleasant roaming the International District searching for "freedom food."
The overt idea behind the Sports Summit, which has booked June 7-12 at venues in Redmond, Federal Way, Tacoma and Everett besides the local basketball, football and baseball yards, is to spread the joy of jockism to Olympics hinterlands.
The semi-covert agenda is to get a bead on what the Chinese are up to, in order to goose American medal production.
Impressive as was China's 407-athlete delegation in Athens, which included participants in every sport but baseball and equestrian, a belief among rival nations was that China was saving up the good stuff for the Beijing Games.
"It wasn't really a surprise how well they did," Scherr said. "They had seasoned athletes, but they were still developing for Beijing. They have incredible capacity, and they may have been holding something in reserve."
The June event is supposed to provide not only competition, but some clues about Chinese strengths and weaknesses. It is more than just a dual meet, with seven other Pacific nations and about 900 national-class athletes invited. But the idea came from talks between China and U.S. Olympic delegations. Plans are to stage a similar event in Beijing in 2006 and another back in Seattle in 2007.
But before we get there, Walsh and his committee must pull off the June gig. Unlike his previous international-sport enterprise, the 1990 Goodwill Games, this one will be done without two major elements -- public money and the University of Washington. Given the outcry about both at the time, it's just as well.
Because of graduation ceremonies, the UW's stadium, athletic facilities and dorms are unavailable. So the opening ceremonies will be at the ballpark, diving and synchronized swimming will be at the pool in Federal Way, and Redmond's Marymoor Park will host archery, track cycling and softball.
But without the area's only big-time track at Husky Stadium, the premier Olympic sport will be held in West Seattle across the street from Sealth High School at a glorified prep facility.
Walsh promised yesterday that the complex will be upgraded, although the short timeline means improvements will be modest.
Fortunately for the public exchequer, the $10 million budget for improvements and the staging of the event will come from private sponsors. Two of the largest are Boeing and the Port of Seattle.
Think those two enterprises have any interest in cozy relations with China?
Using sports as a modern cultural/business bridge goes back at least as far as the Ping-Pong diplomacy of the Nixon administration. China's first Olympics appearance -- it earlier refused to participate because of the recognition of Taiwan -- wasn't until 1984.
In one generation, China is now an Olympics host that will have spent an estimated $30 billion to stage the Games, about double the original budget. (Greece spent about $11 billion for the 2004 Games, a sum also double the original budget that is expected to financially cripple the national economy until the withering of the last olive tree.)
The Chinese government has invested so heavily because it is desperate to break with the stigma of its past, as much for domestic pride as international glory.
"By being successful at the Olympics," Hao Qiang, head of the State General Administration of Sport's Competition and Training Dept., told Time magazine, "China will erase our shameful past of being humiliated by foreign powers."
The Los Angeles Times quoted a professor at the Beijing Sport University, Ren Hai: "It is about more than just sports. In 2008, China's development will be acknowledged and accepted by the world."
In such a sweeping scenario, the Pacific Rim Sports Summit plays only a tiny role. But any window on a world changing so rapidly is worthy of a sustained peep.
P-I columnist Art Thiel can be reached at 206-448-8135 or artthiel@seattlepi.com
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