Word: medals
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...advertising has offset such costs; China's state-run CCTV, for instance, says it is raking in $60 million in ad revenues?a remarkable feat in a country where advertising is still an infant industry. Everything about the Olympics has been marketed, right down to sponsorship of the televised medal count that flashed on TV screens several times an hour, courtesy of the motor-oil brand Kunlun...
...captured another title in the 200-m breaststroke race. But Kitajima was hardly alone in harvesting laurels for his nation. After less than a week of competition, Japan had more than doubled its total golden haul from Sydney and had claimed the No. 3 spot in the overall gold-medal tally, trailing only the U.S. and China. In the marquee swimming races, Japan's men won four medals?four more than in Sydney, where their squad sank without a trace. The country's female swimmers also captured three medals, including a gold in the 200-m backstroke. Equally impressive...
...Nevertheless, for a nation that has been mired for years in economic woes, any sign that it might be regaining its former glory is cause for celebration. The rest of the world, which had not expected a Japanese medal run, appeared to view a host of unpronounceable Japanese names in the pool as pleasant relief from over-hyped contests between the one-syllable American and Australian, Phelps and Thorpe. In the gymnastics arena, even the Americans who came in second in the men's team final could hardly begrudge the tears of joy from Mitsuo Tsukahara, a Japanese gymnast...
...Confucian pressure cooker, in which disappointing the country is the ultimate taboo. The national burden has been blamed for several high-profile Olympic chokes in previous Games, most recently Tsukahara's meltdown in Sydney, when he plunged off the pommel horse and ruined his chances of a medal in the individual all-round event. "I'm very sorry," he said, in a common refrain from Japanese Olympians. "I wish I hadn't disgraced my nation." Four years later, Tsukahara has broken free from these emotional shackles. "Yes, I'm happy for my country," he said, just minutes after accepting...
...given that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Tokyo Olympics. Back then, an ascendant economic power wanted to show just how spectacularly it had risen from the ashes of war. Japan spent $3 billion on those Games and sprinted past Germany for third place in the gold-medal count. In their patriotic frenzy, most Japanese medalists deferentially linked their victories to the country's remarkable economic rise. Still, the compulsion to reap gold for national honor sometimes proved disastrous: in 1968, a Japanese marathoner who had won bronze in the Tokyo Games committed suicide after injuries looked...