Asia Reaches Olympian Heights

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	PHOTO ESSAYS The Olympians Past champions and fresh faces Athens to Athens LIFE Olympic photographs Stroke By Stroke How Michael Phelps turbocharged his repertoire Olympic Preview The road to Athens
	PARTNERS SI.com Complete coverage of the 2004 Games

Traditionalists will tell you that the Olympic Games are not a contest between nations, that the Olympic spirit dwells in the hearts of countless athletes who dedicate themselves to their sports and dream of nothing more than doing the very best they can on the world's greatest stage. But traditionalists lost that argument decades ago. Every four years, readers and viewers turn to the daily medal tables to see how each nation has done. And as the Athens games got under way, the tables told how the world has changed. In the first week of competition, South Korea had won more medals than Italy or Britain, Japan had won more golds than France or Germany, and the amazing and astonishingly young Chinese squad stood second only to the U.S. in total honors. In the year that the Olympics returned to their ancient roots, many of their stars were from the modern world's most dynamic region.

To some extent, Asia's success in Athens is neither new nor surprising. Japan's swimmers were famous 70 years ago; its male gymnasts, winners of the team gold this year, once dominated the sport. But China's dazzling performance points to a new reality—and not just in sports. The determination of the Chinese authorities to harvest athletic talent speaks to a sense of purpose that is making itself felt everywhere from beach volleyball to bioengineering.

Still, it's needlessly high-minded to dwell on such deep messages during the magical two weeks of the Summer Games. Instead, let's celebrate the lifters and the gymnasts, the shooters and the runners, the wrestlers and the archers who have brought their all to Athens—and made Asia's golden Games something to remember.