No silver lining in finishing with silver

BEIJING

Samuel Peck sure was ahead of his time.

The Victorian era poet once described tiny mythical creatures thought uncommonly beautiful this way: “All human ills they can subdue, or with a wand or amulet … Give honor to the dainty crew.”

Pixies.

Gymnasts.

No one captures the imagination of Olympic viewers each four years like those who weigh less than a coffee mug and are as powerful as a Hummer. We are intrigued by their athleticism, their commitment, their determination, their ability to resemble Superman in bodies built for a shoebox.

Their controversy.

Their drama.

China is your Olympic women’s team champion because a group of small and light and agile and flexible and talented and who-knows-how-old gymnasts rode their home-beam advantage past the United States and all comers today at the National Indoor Stadium.

It is a gold medal that comes not without storm, one born from charges that China competed with at least three girls younger than the international minimum of 16. American coaches before arriving in Beijing and leading up to and following the final slung sarcastic arrows across the mat at their red-clad rivals.

Those coaches undoubtedly realize this truth today: The Chinese might have broken rules when it comes to age during this journey to gold, but the U.S. did everything possible to personally place those shiny medals around their collective necks.

The Americans didn’t settle for silver. They earned every ounce of it. They fell off the beam and crashed and stepped out of bounds twice on floor exercise, and afterward began reciting feeble reasons why the Chinese were celebrating their first Olympics gold and why the defending world champions weren’t standing on the podium’s top level.

It doesn’t wash: The U.S. lost by more than two points (188.900-186.525) in a struggle that was supposed to resemble more overtime thriller than the mercy-rule rout it ultimately became.

The U.S. gymnast with the heavy heart and watery eyes today is veteran and unofficial team captain Alicia Sacramone, whose fall when mounting the beam all but sealed her team’s silver fate before the competition’s third of four rotations concluded. She then fell during floor and two teammates followed by stepping out of bounds. It was a mess out there.

“I told (Sacramone) she should not let her (fall in beam) push her out of concentration,” said U.S. coach Martha Karolyi. “Turn the page and go onto (floor). What else can you say? A mistake was done. We do much training of keeping them tough and focused and still it happens. It’s disappointing.”

Martha seemed to have an excuse for everything. She said (and, sadly, Sacramone agreed) the gymnast was distracted before mounting the beam because officials delayed the beginning of her routine. Something about a blank screen and her name not coming up fast enough.

“They asked me how long I could concentrate,” Sacramone said. “I guess not long enough.”

How do you say sour grapes in pixie?

Then came the question of age. Karolyi said she couldn’t prove the Chinese broke rules, but added that one of their gymnasts had a tooth missing.

I’m not an expert on biological change that occurs between birth and adolescence. I know as much about genetics as I do icefall patterns of the Malaspina Glacier. But faces and physiques tell so much, and if half the Chinese gymnasts who competed here today are over 14, Bill Gates needs financial counsel.

Honestly, I wouldn’t blink if Chinese star He Kexin would be denied entrance into a U-10 soccer team for being too young.

The difficult part is knowing how to feel about it. Bela Karolyi (Martha’s husband) calls the Great Age Debate a slap in the face to the world, but I’m not sure the world cares as much as the renowned coach.

Cheating and controversy are as much a part of elite levels of sport as conditioned athletes, and to profess anger and bitterness solely about alleged doctored birth certificates is to forget dark, sordid truths about how women gymnasts keep weight off and compete when injured and train for unfathomably long hours.

Simply, the age factor was just one part of this finals story. Simply, the team with far more stress on its tiny shoulders to win on home soil, to claim the one competition where China and the U.S. battle each other for Olympics supremacy, came through.

The 12-year-olds from China prevailed under all the pressure.

The pixies from the U.S. broke under it.

Ed Graney can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.