The Golds that glitter and the Golds that don't

A Gold in doubles? Roger Federer wins the Olympic gold for Switzerland in men's doubles on the last day of his 4.5 years of top singles ranking....incredible! And totally deserving. They defeated the unbeatable Byron brothers in the semi-final. And they also defeated the Indians in the quarters. Hmmm that was a big ethical question I had to face. What to root for - loyalty or royalty? I chose the latter. With the unreasonable breaking away of Bhupati and Paes, and then a comeback for these Olympics, I was not sure how long they will last this time, so there was hardly a question of national pride there. But the royal Swiss was more deserving of the medal anyways.

Still, India goes back with the historical medal in shooting for Bindra -an achievement too much for the whole 1 billion populace we own. Each year our people manage a solitaire medal. But the rest of the 5 billion in the world get to share the remaining 302 x 3 of them. I sometimes wonder, why there is so much discrimination?

While we are at it, let's talk about China's bag of 40 odd golds - the age of the female gymnasts, the sudden appearance of world record breaking swimming athletes, and all other questions in peoples' minds. Well even though a gold is a gold, a victory is a victory, I find it hard to them due credit. I am sure this whole business is transparently opaque!