SPORTSMANSHIP Ideals, reality clash at Olympic badminton John Leicester Associated press/London In sports, as in life there are those who bend ruse, and those who cheat. They've always excited. And because of human frailties and pressure from sponsors, countries, coaches and athletes themselves for medals and trophies, they always will. But bending rules and spitting on them is not the same thing. Olympic ideals of fari play, sportsmanship and all of that are just tahat - an ideal. But the reality of theOlympic Game is that success is measured in gold, silver adn bronze. Be goode sportsman if you can but, above all, win and we will give you a shiny medal. And because these areOlympic medals, the will bring fame and perhaps fortune, too. Winning medals changes lives. Being good sports alone rarely do. Sad, perhaps, but true. Beetwing theOlympics ideals and theOlympics reality is a trap that eight badminton players fell into at London 2012. They didn't cheat. Instead, the tried to win - by deliberately trying to lose. They bent the rules to breaking point. But the didn't trample on them like doped sprinter Ben Johnson at the 1988 SeoulOlympics or Fred Lorz in 1904, the New Yorker who hitched a ride by car for much of theOlympics marathon and then ran over the finish line in first place. It's not like a boxer taking a dive of a soccer player scoring in his own goal to get a fat envelope from syndicate. Those are cheats, dammed cheats. The women badminton players form China, South Korea and Indonesia are not. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

Question

SPORTSMANSHIP

Ideals, reality clash at Olympic badminton

John Leicester

Associated press/London

In sports, as in life there are those who bend ruse, and those who cheat. They've always excited. And because of human frailties and pressure from sponsors, countries, coaches and athletes themselves for medals and trophies, they always will. But bending rules and spitting on them is not the same thing.

Olympic ideals of fari play, sportsmanship and all of that are just tahat - an ideal. But the reality of the Olympic Game is that success is measured in gold, silver adn bronze.

Be goode sportsman if you can but, above all, win and we will give you a shiny medal. And because these are Olympic medals, the will bring fame and perhaps fortune, too. Winning medals changes lives. Being good sports alone rarely do. Sad, perhaps, but true.

Beetwing the Olympics ideals and the Olympics reality is a trap that eight badminton players fell into at London 2012.

They didn't cheat. Instead, the tried to win - by deliberately trying to lose. They bent the rules to breaking point. But the didn't trample on them like doped sprinter Ben Johnson at the 1988 Seoul Olympics or Fred Lorz in 1904, the New Yorker who hitched a ride by car for much of the Olympics marathon and then ran over the finish line in first place. It's not like a boxer taking a dive of a soccer player scoring in his own goal to get a fat envelope from syndicate. Those are cheats, dammed cheats. The women badminton players form China, South Korea and Indonesia are not.

What is the main idea of the last paragraph?