hardboiled

attacking athletic stereotypes

Asian American Olympicans Then and Now

If I were to ask you to name one Asian American Olympic medalist within the past 10 years, who would you name? Michelle Kwan and …? Let’s face it, Asian Americans are not known for their superior athletic abilities. Sure, we may be constantly labeled as “overachievers” in school, but such stereotype always mysteriously disappears in the PE class. In the world of sports, Asian Americans are stereotyped as small, weak, and passive. However, in the past 60 years, the Olympics demonstrated that there is a place for Asian Americans.

The first Asian American Olympic gold medalist is Dr. Samuel “Sammy” Lee a diver from Fresno, California. Dr. Lee was born in 1920 to Korean American parents. He went to University of Southern California School of Medicine where he received his M.D. This kind of academic accomplishment from an Asian American may not have come as a surprise to most of us, but two Olympic gold medals? Definitely!

Dr. Lee won his first Olympic gold medal at the 1948 London Games in 10m Platform, along with a bronze medal in 3m Springboard. Four years later, at the 1952 Helsinki Games, Dr. Lee won his second Olympic gold medal again in 10m Platform, making him the first man to win gold medals in platform diving at two consecutive in Olympic Games. Dr. Lee’s amazing performance shocked America and changed the way people view Asian Americans.

Before Michelle Kwan made her debut in figure skating, there was Kristi Yamaguchi, one of the most recognized athletes in the world. Yamaguchi is a third-generation Japanese American from Hayward, California. Her mother was actually born in an internment camp during World War II. In 1992 Albertville, France Winter Olympic Games, Yamaguchi won a gold medal in Women’s Singles, and the first Asian American female athlete to win an Olympic gold medal.

In this past Beijing Summer Olympic Games, a handful of Asian American athletes found seats on Team USA.

Raj Bhavsar, 28, is an American artistic gymnast of Indian descent from Houston, Texas. Prior to the Olympic Games, Bhavsar has represented the U.S. in the 2001 and 2003 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and won silver medals with his team both times. He participated in the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games only as an alternate and suffered the same fate in the 2008 Games. Reflecting upon the disappointments, Bhavsar said that “being an alternate is not an easy position. It’s difficult to train sometimes when you don’t know what that training is truly for or whether you’ll get that chance. It can be a disheartening experience.”

However, his persistence paid off after Paul Hamm announced his withdrawal from the Games due to injury. Bhavsar replaced him and was give the opportunity to rise from the status of an alternate to a competing athlete. Bhavsar is known for his strength and consistency. Like Paul Hamm, his best events are rings, vault, parallel bars and the pommel horse.

As a part of the U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Team, Bhavsar received a bronze medal after China and Japan, making him the third Indian American Olympic medalist following the footsteps of Mohini Bhardwaj (2004 Women’s Team All-Around Silver medalist) and Alexi Grewal (1984 Men’s Individual Road Race Gold Medalist).

The other reason that Asian American athletes seem to be forgotten in the sports scene is that the media often overlooks the fact that some Olympic medalists are half-Asian and regard themselves as members of the Asian American community.

For many Olympic fans out there, it may be a surprise to hear that the gold medal decathlete Bryan Clay, 28 identifies himself as an Asian American athlete. Clay’s mother is a Japanese immigrant, and his father was African American.

He was raised by his mother in Hawaii, under the influence of traditional Japanese culture. “We ate ozoni [traditional Japanese rice soup] on New Year’s Eve. My life was very Japanese,” says Clay in an interview. He received a silver medal in decathlon at the 2004 Athens Games and won the gold medal in Beijing. His gold medal in the event also made him the world’s greatest all-around athlete.

Furthermore, the media does not provide nearly enough coverage for the less popular sports such as table tennis and badminton. In the 2008 Beijing Games, the U.S. Badminton and Table Tennis team each sent out five members who are Asian-Americans.

However, unlike football and baseball, table tennis and badminton appeals to only a small group of American audiences. Coincidentally, those sports happen to be where large numbers of Asian American athletes are concentrated. As a result, the sport hardly gets any air time on television.

Dr. Samuel Lee, Kristi Yamaguchi, Michelle Kwan, Raj Bhavsar, Bryan Clay, and all the other Asian American Olympians have opened the door for Asian American athletes, breaking the stereotype of bookworms and math geniuses. In the future, we hope to see more Asian American athletes competing in the international arena, taking home medals and demonstrating that there is a place for Asian Americans in sports.