Marc Lim remembers that all who glitter are not gold medalists.

In Beijing

OVER the last two weeks, we've seen great stories of men and women doing great things.

Michael Phelps' eight-gold feat; Usain Bolt running the 100 metres in a time few believed was possible; Dara Torres, a 41-year-old mother, showing us that she can still be a world-class swimmer; are just of the inspirational stories which have come out of Beijing.

Yet every four years, some of the greatest stories are also about those who failed - and Beijing has its fair share.

Liu Xiang will probably be the biggest story of the Beijing Olympics - yet he never ran a metre. The hurdler's decision to pull out stunned a nation. Some wept, others cursed. A doctor said had he run, he'd be done for life.

It is debatable whether he knew from the start he was never going to run at the Olympics, that he had to put on a show before a packed stadium just to show he tried.

Even if that were true, it still does not take away the pain he must be going through inside. He is the first Asian to win an Olympics sprints event. And how badly he must have wanted to repeat his Athens feat on home turf.

Liu's pain - and not just physical either. Source: Xinhua

Lolo Jones would have been the story everyone would have loved to tell - again.

Her's is a story of perseverance. She once lived in a Salvation Army basment, maxed out her credit cards on grocery bills because she had no cash. Once, she told a friend her air conditioning was not working, when she actually had no money for electricity bills.

Yet all the while she never gave up chasing her dream of Olympic glory.

In Beijing, she was two hurdles away from accomplishing that dream. But leading the field, she hit the second last hurdle, lost balance and lost the gold. 

"You hit a hurdle twice a year when it affects your race," she said. "It's just a shame that it was on the biggest race of my life." Ouch.

It all comes crashing down for Jones. Source: Xinhua

Matt Emmons will probably hit the jackpot in Las Vegas the next time he pulls on a slot machine - fate owes him that much.

Losing an Olympic gold on the last shot is bad enough. Losing it twice when the title is in your hands? Wow. 

In Athens four years ago, the American rifle shooter was leading when he shot the wrong target. In Beijing, he needed, by his standards, a mediocre shot. He got 4.4 points. For a guy who had been shooting nines, it's like missing a one-foot putt in golf if you're Tiger Woods.

Losing his target for gold must shoot
straight to Emmons' heart. Source: AP

Yet, the very nature of sports is that there will be more stories of losing, than of winning. Hundreds of people enter an event, there can only be one winner.

For Liu, Jones, Emmons, they may want to forget Beijing in a hurry. But we shouldn't forget them. Because like all good athletes, all great athletes, one defeat will not knock them down.

Just ask the Chinese men's gymnastics team. They were branded a disgrace for not even finishing among the medals in Athens. But in Beijing, they redeem themselves.

Not all those who failed in Beijing will be back. But the majority will. And when they finally turn that silver, or last-place finish, into gold, how much sweeter the success will be, how much greater their stories will sound.

And we'll undoubtedly be cheering them on when they do.