Sudden death

A young Chinese badminton athlete suddenly fell to the ground while playing. Zhang Zhijie shook his body face down on the court, became still and nil. Dr. Ramlan Abdul Aziz calls it the athlete s heart syndrome. He attributes it to long-term rigorous training. It thickens heart muscles and disturbs electrical conduction. Whatever that means. Let s leave it to the sports science and medicine expert.

He warns that when push comes to shove, it may increase heart rate with irregular patterns. The athlete then loses consciousness and collapses rimless. Looks like exactly what happened to the gone too soon athlete. Too bad, the junior shuttler still had so much to live for, and play for. But died on the floor.

Chinese athletes undergo strict state training and discipline. It largely explains why it is now sports superpower in the world, with the great wall Yao Ming most recognizable. Expectedly, it has a pool gene of over a billion people. Ratio and proportion. If there is one in a million success story, imagine a one in a billion probability.

But India is not as lucky. Although it has overtaken China as world most populous, its success is disproportionate to its body count. Except of course for Neeraj Chopra who reigned supreme in Olympic javelin. If not for Mondo Duplantis, EJ Obiena could have been the Filipino Chopra. Or Chopra the Indian Obiena.

Alarmingly, athlete s heart is a common condition. They all have it, within the context of fighting spirit reminiscent of the country s most united village, Barangay Ginebra, only because it has no politician that divides it. China too, where sports is a national priority. And where the ultimate, if not the only goal, is the Olympic gold. Although it also desires the pearl of the orient or at least part of it.

This cardiovascular issue does not discriminate. It may hit even the healthiest of athletes. Just like cancer, in gripping reminder of human mortality. A few runners were also reported to have died after running long distance. Accordingly, their body just shut down. It may not be the correct medical term. But for laymen, it makes perfect sense. The human body can only take so much. That is why there is sleep. Except those who have nothing to eat, they cannot afford the luxury of respite.

Thankfully, the brutal 100km marathon fad faded away. Triathlon has taken over. When there is fad, let it flood, allow it to rule, sooner it falls. Those who joined the bandwagon later cringe to the reality of a badwagon. Baby boomers wished bell bottom pants never happened.

But during any craze, everybody feared missing out. Except the classic and the timeless, they are not swayed by what s new, they always stick to what s true. But they are a few. Regardless, the majority is not always right. On paper the minority is respected. Although most of the time they are not really minority, but the silent majority. They choose to be quiet for peace. But at the same time, they also silence injustice.