Web users have called for more respect and attention for silver and bronze medalists as well as those who don't make it onto the podium at the London Olympic Games.

Analysts say it reflects Chinese people's increasingly rational understanding of sportsmanship.

The appeals increased sharply after Chinese athlete Wu Jingbiao cried and apologized to the nation Monday for failing to win the gold medal in the men's 56-kilogram weightlifting event at the London Games, even though he did enough to win silver.

"I feel sorry to my country and the national weightlifting team. I feel sorry to all the people who care for me," Wu told China Central Television tearfully after the match, and bowed several times.

The video soon went viral online. Tens of thousands of Web users encouraged Wu via Sina Weibo.

The Web users' appeal started as early as the first day of competition at the London Games, when Yu Dan won bronze in the women's 10-meter air rifle. Media devoted a large amount of coverage to Yi Siling, the gold medallist in the event, but paid little attention to Yu.

Many people also felt disgusted by some reports that called the three failed snatch attempts of Chinese weightlifter Zhou Jun in the women's 53-kilogram weightlifting "the most humiliating failure in the history of the national team of women's weightlifting."

Zhou Zhichen, editor-in-chief of the Kunming-based Dushi Shibao paper, on Monday evening said on Weibo that the paper, which was among those calling Zhou Jun's failure a humiliation, would carry an apology to Zhou Jun in Tuesday's edition.

"It was supposed to be a great honor to take part in the Games, but now failing to win a medal turns into humiliation, and the losers seem to have turned into sinners," Jing Fengjie, a professor with the Wuhan-based Huazhong University of Science and Technology, commented on Weibo.

Zhao Jisheng, a professor with the College of PE and Sports at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times that the public and media attached too much importance to gold medals in the past, which resulted in great pressure on the athletes.

"Considering China's State-run sporting system, which gathers all the resources of the whole nation to cultivate these athletes, it is not difficult to understand the public's close attention to gold medals," Zhao explained.

He suggested that the pressure also came from local sports bureaus.

"Once an athlete wins a medal, his coaches, gym teachers, and all the institutions that have helped cultivate him will benefit," he said.

Zhao's words were echoed by Huang Jianxiang, a well-known sports commentator, who commented on his Weibo that the athletes were "burdened with the expectations of not only ordinary Chinese people, but also the interest groups who would benefit from the gold medals."

After Yi Siling won the first gold medal of the Games, her coach Wang Yifu revealed that the director of the General Administration of Sport had demanded that they win the first gold medal, the Wuhan Evening News reported.

"It is very good to see people showing respect not just to champions, because the efforts others have made are no less than those made by the champions," noted Zhao Jisheng.