Olympics Covered With Too Much Emphasis On Americans

I'm in solid agreement with the letter appearing in the L.A. Times Sports section today from Carol Weissberg of Chatsworth.

"I don't know what constitutes a 'champion' in the eyes of the journalists reporting on Michelle Kwan's withdrawal from the Olympics," Weissberg writes, "but the last time I looked she had won two medals, a silver and a bronze, in the 1988 and 2002 Games. The overemphasis on winning the gold is an affront to the Olympic experience."

Indeed. Whatever happened to the idea that participation, not winning, was the mark of nobility in the Olympics?

Instead, the way the Games are covered on NBC, you'd think that the only thing that counts is the American gold medal winners.