Chinese triumph against all the odds

NOTHING focuses the mind of a sports journalist than the romantic story of somebody facing odds stacked so unfairly against them that victory seems impossible.

Somehow, by hook or by crook or pure will, they manage it. This past week has been full of those stories, each athlete battling unfair obstacles just to get here.

As an abiding image of the World Games, the emotional scenes on Belfield’s basketball court after China took the gold in the unified discipline will take some beating. This was a basketball team who after years of training for these games, faced weeks and months of uncertainty as to whether they would actually get in.

This was a team that continued to train regardless, and as a thanks to the hospitality Bray people showed them as their host town, the victorious players wrapped themselves in a Bray host town flag at the end of the game.

The match, itself, thrilled the packed gallery in UCD. China and Germany were a novel pairing, with USA having to content themselves with bronze. China took a grip on the match early on, with their extra power and ability under the boards. At half-time, they led by 10 points. But showing the true spirit of these Games, and illustrating that they don’t differ all that much from the other Olympics, the German team weren’t beaten.

They burrowed their way back into the game, as German sporting teams have done for decades, but they left themselves with too much to do, too late on. They agonizingly lost it by a single lay-up, a single successful basket, 40-38. Cue the delirium. China are a rising force in the ranks of international basketball and it is no different in the Special Olympics. Bray people who became honorary Chinese in the past fortnight joined in the celebrations.

And to think, this wonderful group of individuals, this crowd of gold medallists almost didn’t make it because of a bit of bureaucratic knee-jerking. Well, if it wasn’t forgotten before yesterday, it is now. The embarrassing way certain people insisted on handling the SARS situation has been carpeted over by the way Ireland has presented the World Games. As one American fan said during their bronze medal play-off with Luxembourg, “it is a credit to a small country like this, the way the event has been run.”

The USA did win a medal in the unified basketball discipline (an event where two players without learning disabilities play alongside the other athletes), although it was substantially darker than the expected gold. And they had to beat, only just, tiny Luxembourg to do it.

For the misty-eyed among us in the basketball court, we were hoping Luxembourg could pull off a miracle against the States.

Driven by their point guard Tom Fehlen, Luxembourg scared the fancied Americans witless.

With only four minutes remaining, the States had raced into a 26-20 lead. That was the moment Fehlen took over. Despite being on four fouls at the time, Fehlen rose a gear and within 90 seconds, had scored six points. Unfortunately a Matthew Mainselle free-throw in the middle of the scoring spree meant the States still led, 27-26.

It was a combination of Mainselle and Arthur Campbell that took the US home, as they put a gloss on their winning margin. They eventually secured the bronze, 33-28 and tiny Luxembourg, one of the smallest European delegations at the Games, were denied their medal, the romantic tale denied its happy ending. That would have to wait an hour and a half until a few Chinese players cried tears of joy on the court. An image we were nearly denied.