Sword Player
06-26-2007, 06:13 AM
I've been in China going on four years. I noticed that some of the wushu competitions here involving foreigners give medals to all participants. Each category may have several gold, silver, and bronze medal winners.
In order to win a gold, one must simply break an arbitrary threshold, such as 8.8. If you get above 8.8, even though someone in your category may have gotten 9.1, you still win a gold medal.
Lately,I have been seeing on youtube and other places, people bragging about winning several gold medals or a school collecting a dozen silver and gold medals from Chinese competitions.
To most Americans, a gold medal signifies top score in the event. Not so in China. Of course, this practice makes medalling in China virtually meaningless.
Local competitions for people here provide the contestant with a certificate stating their exact score. One person gets gold, one silver, one bronze. This is the usual practice.
People returning from China should clearly state their actual place ranking rather than simply saying I got a medal; particularly when using those medals to promote the skills of a sifu, etc. To do otherwise is simply fraud.
In order to win a gold, one must simply break an arbitrary threshold, such as 8.8. If you get above 8.8, even though someone in your category may have gotten 9.1, you still win a gold medal.
Lately,I have been seeing on youtube and other places, people bragging about winning several gold medals or a school collecting a dozen silver and gold medals from Chinese competitions.
To most Americans, a gold medal signifies top score in the event. Not so in China. Of course, this practice makes medalling in China virtually meaningless.
Local competitions for people here provide the contestant with a certificate stating their exact score. One person gets gold, one silver, one bronze. This is the usual practice.
People returning from China should clearly state their actual place ranking rather than simply saying I got a medal; particularly when using those medals to promote the skills of a sifu, etc. To do otherwise is simply fraud.