LeTibétain

 

The Tibetan

The International Olympic Committee fears that scandal could ruin the Games forever. The Middle Kingdom has lost face and its people are up in arms. Chinese leaders, faced with hosting an event devoid of glory or celebration, grasp one hope. An exceptionally talented Tibetan athlete named Mykio Dara was not disqualified. Allowing the young swimmer to represent China could calm the populace, yet also ignite dangerous repercussions.

Torn by his pas and Tibet's ruinous recent history, Mykio refuses to swim for China. But the Chines government forces him to complete, and to do his best. Each qualifying race carries political consequences on the world stage. Yet an ennemy with political and industrial power knows that Mykio must lose, the Games must fail. This group had the means to make him to do so.

The Tibetan takes the reader inside China's mysterious Kremlin - Zhongnanhai, behind Olympic scenes to Executive Committee maneuvrings, and into the Aquatic Center pool where the young man's fate unfolds alongside that of China itself. The swim finals, followed meter by meter by a bewildered crowd and the world's press, become historical events which symbolize a power struggle between the host nation's conservatives and progressives.