Another gold medal for the winners

There is a Western proverb saying "He conquers twice, who upon victory overcomes himself". Yes, victory won through overcoming people their own means another gold medal for the winners.

As of August 21, the Chinese athletes have won 46 gold medals and 80 medals in total at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, achieving a historic leap. This figure is so inspiring to all the Chinese people.

Given the unprecedented victory, people usually have two different attitudes: one is being over complacent and blindly optimistic, claiming "sports great power"; the other is lacking confidence, feeling inferior to others. As a matter of fact, how we behave in the field and how we react towards our victory attract equal attention from the people of the world.

It was in 76 years ago that the first Chinese athlete went far away to overseas to participate in the Olympic Games. Now China, as the host country of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, has more 600 athletes participating in the contests in its homeland. In 1984, China won its first gold medal. Now, it stands high on the top of the medal rank. No one can deny that China's Olympic achievements is the result of the joint efforts of several generations of Chinese athletes and the accumulation of the reform and opening up for 30 years, which has been targeting on comprehensive economic and social development. Meanwhile, with the improvement of people's living standards, China is not only marching forward in competitive sports, but also improving the popularity of national fitness campaign in both urban and rural areas.

However, a nation easy to satisfy is a short-sighted nation. Facing the brilliance achievements, everyone should remain calm, either a person or a country.

An ancient saying tells us "Never be unduly elated by victory or depressed by defeat." When everybody is cheering for the victory, we must not neglect the gap. When everyone is sighing, we shall notice the achievements and progress. Of course, achievement sometime easily becomes burden and pressure, while progress often makes people smug. Faced with victory, people sometimes find it difficult to remain sober. Sometimes, we won't give up in frustration, but will lose ourselves in victory. Given the 46 gold medals, we must clearly keep in mind that there is still gap between us and advanced countries in terms of competitive sports. In track and field, in the football, basketball and volleyball court, we witnessed more regrets than surprises. In terms of national fitness campaign and education, our sports facilities are still far from enough to meet the demand of our people. In school education, we are still focusing more on intellect cultivation than sports education.

To achieve the victory is not the most difficult thing. The key lies in how to keep the crown of championship. Given the success, we must have a sense of tribulation. Life is always full of changes. Sometimes we are strong, sometimes we are weak. No one can always remain unconquerable. No one can always be the inferior. Reviewing the developing pattern of the sports world, the Untied States and Russia still remain as sports great powers, which are worth learning from. At the same time, sports competition becomes extremely fierce. The world record is to be broken, and our predecessors' benchmarks are to be overcome. The world's famous sprinter Michael Johnson once claimed that the 200-meter record is unbreakable. However, the flying Jamaican Usain Bolt easily broke his record. The Olympic competition clearly tells us that today's victory never means a success tomorrow. Losers and latecomers will make more challenge with stronger power. It is precisely this kind of challenge that has been pushing the sport game become faster and stronger. This is also the charm of competitive sports.

Difficult and failures are tests, so are successes and victories. In cheers of triumph, victory is brining new challenge - to conquer ourselves and win one more god medal! This is the case in the Olympic field, and also the one in our everyday life.

By People's Daily Online