The Beijing Summer Olympic Games that open on Friday have sparked substantive debate about the quality and quantity of winners, with the all-important gold medal tally by country being the most contentious aspect of recent discussions. Winning an impressive tally of gold medals appears to be a matter of national, ethnic, moral and perhaps even religious pride.

Many posters have opined that China will win more medals than the United States, for the first time, and in so doing push the demographically-challenged nations of Europe and Japan deeper.


By Chan Akya
From atimes.com