BEIJING — After downplaying the incident, Beijing's Olympic organizers acknowledged Thursday that a dancer was paralyzed after a platform collapsed during rehearsals for the Opening Ceremony.Liu Yan, 26, fell July 27 as she was rehearsing a sequence called "Silk Road," in which she was supposed to dance on a painting with swirling scarves around her. The sequence was supposed to last two minutes; Liu is now expected to be paralyzed from the waist down for life.
Making up for its belated reporting, China's official news media have spun Liu's tragedy into a tale of national heroism. She has been photographed smiling angelically from her bed at a Beijing military hospital, making a victory sign with her fingers.
