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Olympic Celebration: Asian Style
by Paul Techo
August 26, 2004
Look at that damn Asian, who does he think he is? A white guy ?
It seems as if it is ok to celebrate victory in grandiose, cocky, classless fashion.....if you are white. I recently read that American swimmer Brendan Hansen was upset at Japanese gold medallist Kosuke Kitajima's post race celebration after winning the 100-meter breaststroke in swimming. Now, I watched the race and the celebration in Japan on Japanese TV, and did not find anything wrong with the celebration. After winning, Kitajima let out a loud yell, smashed the water with his fist in joy, and let out another loud yell. He leaned on his back in the water screaming, and then pointed out to the crowd signaling with his index finger, and left the pool. That was it. He was all smiles on the victory stand at the medal ceremony. Then during the victory lap gave "fives" and soul shakes (yes, soul shakes) to his adoring Japanese fans. After Kitajima's victory, Japanese coverage showed the Men's 4x100 Meter Relay. Now, if you want to talk about inappropriate celebration, you may want to look at the South African swimming team after their victory. Everyone was surprised by their victory, and it was an amazing world record. But afterward, the team screamed uncontrollably, flexed their muscles, preens for the cameras, jumped up on the starting blocks and flexed their muscles some more, screamed, more yelling, and finally more preening. They reminded me of the U.S. men's 4x100 track relays at Sydney in 2000, which caught international flak and lost endorsement contracts due to their celebration (which were way out of hand just like the South Africans). The all Black U.S. track team received blame from all sides, but no one talked about the all white South African swim team, including the United States, who finished third. Now, I am currently watching Michael Phelps and company on tape delay going crazy after beating Ian Thorpe and Australia in the 200-meter freestyle relay. They also flexed, preen, and screamed (including an audible, "fuck yeah," heard on network TV).
