https://nypost.com/2019/04/19/cheating-boston-marathon-runners-banned-for-life-in-china/
This is a recent event talking about cheating in the Boston Marathon. In particular, the individuals were Chinese athletes that cheated through the impersonation of other runners and forging of qualifying certificates. This is an issue of integrity vs success which are approached differently in the U.S compared to China. The image of success in China is important which leads to the popular idiom “the ends justify the means”. In contrast, the ideal of giving your best (participation trophies) and earning your achievements are something that is more widespread in other cultures. I would like to mention that this is not a blanket statement of every Chinese person, but rather the culture often pushes for success regardless of the method. For them, the end goal is not to just participate, but to win.
Interesting article and your synopsis on these Chinese athlete’s actions. I wonder if these individuals were hesitant at all before forging these certificates or just completely disregarded the guidelines because they felt they had no other option but to achieve a win.
Thanks for including the link to the article. I wonder why I hadn’t heard about this until now, not sure if it was on the news or anything but I’m glad you shared! Your perspective is spot on, integrity vs. success. Participation was not good enough and they wanted to win, so they went through any measures to achieve that.