The true face of the Olympics? You may not guess

Angel Valodia Matos embodies what the Olympics are all about. Yes, Michael Phelps swam quite… Angel Valodia Matos embodies what the Olympics are all about. Yes, Michael Phelps swam quite well more than a few times, Usain Bolt obliterated all who dared to race him and China put on beautiful opening and closing ceremonies to the games. But those were just side attractions. Matos, a taekwondo competitor from Cuba, hurt his foot during the bronze-medal match against Arman Chilmanov of Kazakhstan. Matos took a seat on the mat while waiting for medical attention, which is allowed for one minute under competition rules. After the minute was up, the referee signaled that Matos had taken too long, and it was clear he wouldn’t be able to continue. So, he was disqualified. Matos was winning 3-2 in the second round of the match. After being told he was disqualified, Matos kicked the referee in the face. Now, I don’t want to advocate violence, especially against referees, but I might just have to in this situation. Matos had spent the last few years training for these Olympic games, and then lost his shot at a medal not because he was beaten, but because a referee decided he couldn’t fight anymore. Well, if you saw the clip, or at least a hilarious picture of the kick, it’s fairly clear his legs were working’ fine. Now granted, I doubt kicking a referee takes as much skill as competing against a fellow Olympian, but he still made the referee bleed, which leads me to believe he could’ve continued. And Matos isn’t some young, inexperienced hothead. He won the gold medal in the 2000 Olympics and competed in 2004 but didn’t medal. To me, that’s what the Olympics are all about. Not kicking referees, although if the London games in 2012 want to add some variation of that as a sport, I won’t complain. But Matos has already reached the pinnacle of his career by winning a gold medal in the Olympics, yet he still continues to put so much effort into his matches. He could’ve never competed in taekwondo again, and he still would have had the feeling that for at least a two-week period, he was the greatest in the world at his sport. But he didn’t. He continued to compete. And he clearly wasn’t just mailing it in and competing for the sake of competing or doing it because he’s good at it. He wanted to win. He wanted to win so badly he kicked a referee in the face when he was disqualified. It was fantastic. The China crowd seemed to agree with me. They chanted ‘Cuba’ as he kicked the referee and applauded Matos and his coach as they were escorted from the arena. Apparently officials didn’t see this as an act of passion for winning, unlike me and the people in attendance that day. They promptly banned Matos and his coach for life from competing in any future events. ‘This is an insult to the Olympic vision, an insult to the spirit of taekwondo and, in my opinion, an insult to mankind,’ said World Taekwondo Federation Secretary-General Yang Jin-suk said to the Associated Press. Talk about an overreaction. If anything, Matos should be commended. Maybe not with an Olympic medal but at least with a trophy of some sort. Preferably one with a gold-colored plastic man kicking a referee on top. I don’t want to blame the referee, Chakir Chelbat of Sweden, for what happened. But he should’ve at least been a little smarter about the whole situation. If you’re an Olympic referee and you’re going to disqualify an athlete, don’t disqualify one who is a former gold medalist in taekwondo. For that matter, don’t disqualify any athletes in the more physical sports, such as boxing, wrestling, etc. And make sure not to disqualify any athletes who compete in sports where a piece of equipment can be used as a weapon. This could include javelins, volleyballs or discuses. So take this as an example for future referees or a breath of fresh air for the Olympics. ‘We didn’t expect anything like what you have witnessed to occur,’ said Yang. ‘I am at a loss for words.’ ‘Thanks,’ or ‘Way to go Mr. Matos,’ would suffice, I feel. So often when an athlete wins a medal at the Olympics, we see them take a picture while kissing or taking a bite out of the medal. Or while on the podium, listening to their national anthem, they mouth the words or stand and cry. All of which are fine, enjoyable things to see. But they’re all old already. During the games, 43 world records and 132 Olympic records were broken. That’s quite impressive. But once again, let’s see something new. And yes, technically if you see a world record broken, you are seeing something that has never been seen before. But how many referees have ever been kicked in the face during the Olympics? I know of at least one. And he ended up needing stitches. And it was easily the highlight of the 2008 Olympics.