The Tragedy of a Bloody and Deadly Beijing Olympic -- Talk is of peace
and harmony, but violent world lurks nearby

International Herald Tribune
Talk is of peace and harmony, but violent world lurks nearby
By Harvey Araton
Sunday, August 10, 2008

BEIJING: The grieving coach called his players Saturday night. They were
in the athletes' village, their Olympic lives turned upside down on the
first weekend of the Games. Hugh McCutcheon somehow found a few minutes
to think about volleyball, to refocus his team, before returning to the
insanity that has enveloped his life.

On the day after McCutcheon's father-in-law was murdered in central
Beijing and his mother-in-law was gravely wounded while his wife looked
on, the United States men's volleyball team had to go five sets before
defeating Venezuela in a preliminary-round game. The team leader, Rob
Browning, said before the game that there was no talk of postponement,
only the team going forward, one sad step and spike at a time.

"The boys have done a great job of dealing with it," Browning said,
adding that tragedy had not only gripped the men's team, but the women's
team as well. Elisabeth Bachman McCutcheon, the coach's wife, is a
former United States national team player, and the team is close to the
Bachman family.

The awful news came late Saturday afternoon, while the men's team was
training at Beijing Normal University: a Chinese man named Tang Yongming
attacked and then leapt to his death from the second floor of the
13th-century Drum Tower. Crime happens even in big cities controlled by
authoritarian governments, but this time the victims were connected to
an Olympics the Chinese had vowed would be safe.

Late Saturday night, the United States Olympic Committee confirmed the
death of Todd Bachman, who was attacked from behind. His wife, Barbara,
underwent eight hours of surgery after rushing to his defense.

Hours after the grand pageantry of a lavish opening ceremony, we had the
worst kind of Olympic controversy. We had Peter Ueberroth, the USOC
chairman, releasing a statement about "sadness" and "shock." We had an
unwelcome storyline Sunday to compete with Michael Phelps's first gold
medal and a highly anticipated basketball game, the United States versus
China. We had death, with the Friday night fireworks still ringing in
our ears.

The bureaucrats love to make speeches about the Olympics as a global
agent for peace, brotherhood and change. In the glow of ceremonial
choreography, it always sounds promising, even inspirational. But the
reality is that outside the Olympic bubble, the world typically keeps
wobbling and warring. Inside, too.

While Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was waving to the happy marching
athletes Friday night, Russian tanks rolled into South Ossetia, a
disputed territory of Georgia. Civilians were dying in Tskhinvali, the
South Ossetian capital, just as heads were being lowered here to receive
the first gold medals. In China, meanwhile, explosions continue to rock
a province in China's restive Muslim region.

How will the Olympics foster peace and harmony when it can't even get
the antagonists to take a 16-day timeout?

It used to be easier to cover the Games, to become immersed in the
rhythms and the rhetoric, before there was access to the Internet with a
few computer clicks. That has all changed now. There is no such thing as
an Olympic cocoon anymore, especially when the bad news comes three
miles from the stadium core.

The Beijing authorities cleared the messy evidence from Drum Tower, but
the effects of the tragedy were in the back of the American players' minds.

"Obviously, learning the news was tragic, stunning," the American
captain Thomas Hoff said after the game. "You're thinking, What can I
do? What can I offer? The best thing we could do was come out here and
try to play volleyball."

Without Hugh McCutcheon, who according to Browning has not made a
decision on whether to return, the Games went on, as they always do.
Phelps was in the pool, winning a gold, breaking a record. The Chinese
team began stockpiling golds, as expected. But there was also an anxious
wait for information, the fear of terror on the minds of many
considering domestic threats already made. Did the madman have a motive?

Twelve years ago, in the middle of the Atlanta Games, a bomb exploded on
an early Saturday morning in a crowded Olympic park, killing two,
wounding dozens. I was in Columbus, Georgia, a few hours' drive,
reporting on women's softball: a thrilling United States-Australia game
during the day; the American pitcher Lisa Fernandez lost a perfect game
in extra innings; and a politically intriguing showdown between China
and Taiwan at night.

Two quality Olympic stories rendered instantly meaningless by the
intrusion of reality. The most brilliant choreography sometimes isn't
enough to safeguard the Games and the illusion of what they mean.

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