CHINA HAS raised the standard of Olympic-hosting to a very high level, the Lithuanian prime minister told his Chinese counterpart last Saturday.
Lithuania’s prime minister Gediminas Kirkilas met with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing last weekend before the games’ closing ceremony, during which they discussed cooperation on trade and, inevitably, the Olympic medals won by their respective sportspeople.
“The Chinese men’s basketball team is led by a Lithuanian coach,” Wen told Kirkilas, “and also many coaches from China are working in other countries. This shows that sports can go beyond borders and promote the friendship between peoples of different countries.”
Ironically, Lithuania and China met at the quarter-final stage of the basketball tournament, after which China’s Lithuanian coach Jonas Kazlauskas accused his compatriots of playing rugby, rather than basketball.
Lithuania advanced to the semis but were seen off by Spain in a tight match, a missed opportunity which may be the source of sleepless nights for Lithuanian players for years to come. “I missed my shots,” said forward Simas Jasaitis after the match.
“It’s basketball. It was the small details. We missed easy shots.” The team suffered further disappointment when Argentina beat them to the bronze medal in another close encounter, and the Lithuanian team left the tournament under a cloud of ‘so near, yet so far’, having also come fourth in 2004.
Lithuania were bronze medal winners in men’s basketball at the Olympic Games in 1992, 1996 and 2000. In total, Lithuania finished the 2008 games with five medals (three bronze, two silver). China topped the medals table, amassing 51 gold, 21 silver and 28 bronze, representing a total haul of 100 medals.
