Olympic Games (29Th: 2008: Beijing, China) 2

Home , 1958 Asian Games, 1978 Asian Games, 1994 Asian Games, 1998 Asian Games, 2006 Korea Open, 2006 Singapore Open

China Gold China’s Quest for Global Power and Olympic Glory 中国金路漫漫：从辉煌奥运到世界强国中国金

Edited by FAN Hong 凡红, Duncan Mackay, and Karen Christensen

BERKSHIRE PUBLISHING GROUP Great Barrington, Massachusetts Copyright © 2008 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

For information Berkshire Publishing Group LLC 314 Main Street Great Barrington, Massachusetts 01230 www.berkshirepublishing.com

Editorial Staff Elizabeth Steffey, Thomas Christensen, Marcy Ross, LU Zhouxiang (Paul) Copy Editors Francesca Forrest and Daniel Spinella Cover Designer Joseph DiStefano Interior Designer Martin Lubin Graphic Design Compositor Brad Walrod/High Text Graphics, Inc. Proofreader Mary Bagg

Printed by Eurasia in China

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data China gold: China’s quest for global power and Olympic glory/edited by Fan Hong, Duncan Mackay, and Karen Christensen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-933782-64-5 (alk. paper) 1. Olympic Games (29th: 2008: Beijing, China) 2. Sports — China — History. 3. Olympics — Economic aspects — China — Beijing. I. Hong, Fan. II. Mackay, Duncan. III. Christensen, Karen. GV7222008 .C45 2008 796.48 — dc22 2008017790 Contents Contents

Acknowledgments vii Foreword viii Karen Christensen China’s Olympic Dream 中国奥运梦 ix FAN Hong 凡红 n Part One The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games 奥运会、亚运会、全运会 How China Rose to Be a Sporting Giant 中国体育崛起之路 2 Bjoern Conrad China in the Olympic Games 中国与奥运会 9 FAN Hong 凡红 Asian Games 中国与亚运会 14 REN Hai 任海 China’s National Games 中国全运会 19 LUO Shiming 罗时铭 and CAO Shouhe 曹守和 n Part Two Olympic Sports 奥运体育 Athletics 田径 28 CHANG Sheng 常生 and LU Zhouxiang 吕洲翔 Badminton 羽毛球 32 FAN Wei 樊维 and LU Zhouxiang 吕洲翔 Basketball 篮球 37 ZHANG Ling 张玲 Diving 跳水 41 FAN Wei 樊维 and LU Zhouxiang 吕洲翔 Football/Soccer 足球 47 FAN Wei 樊维 and LU Zhouxiang 吕洲翔 Gymnastics 体操 52 ZHANG Ling 张玲 Martial Arts 武术 55 TAN Hua 谭华 Swimming 游泳 59 FAN Wei 樊维 and LU Zhouxiang 吕洲翔 Table Tennis 乒乓球 65 HU Xiaoming 胡小明 Volleyball 排球 71 Zhang Ling 张玲 Water Polo 水球 75 FAN Wei 樊维 and LU Zhouxiang 吕洲翔 Contents n Part Three The World of Sports 体育大世界 Tai Chi in the Park: Is It a Sport? 这是什么体育项目 78 XIONG Huan 熊欢 New Sports in China 新兴体育项目在中国 81 XIONG Huan 熊欢 Extreme Sports Come to China 极限运动在中国 84 Holly Thorpe Sports Medicine in China 中国运动医学 87 GUO Hong 郭红 Doping and Sport in China 兴奋剂与中国体育 90 CUI Ying 崔颖 Women in Sports: Holding Up Half the Sky 中国妇女体育 93 XIONG Huan 熊欢

n Part Four Welcoming the World 奥运在中国 Where the Action Is 比赛场地 98 TAN Hua 谭华 Setting the Stage 筹备奥运 102 XIONG Xiaozheng 熊晓正 Sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics 北京奥运赞助商 106 Scott Eldridge II The Economic Impact of the Olympics 北京奥运与经济 109 Jörn-Carsten Gottwald

n Part Five The Olympic Ideal and the Three Themes of the Beijing Olympic Games 奥林匹克理想与北京奥运三大理念 The Olympic Ideal 奥林匹克理想 114 Karen Christensen vi The Technological Olympics 科技奥运 116 JIN Yuanpu 金元浦 The Humanistic Olympics 人文奥运 118 JIN Yuanpu 金元浦 Green Olympics, Green World 绿色奥运, 绿色世界 120 Jörn-Carsten Gottwald After the Games: China Gold 奥运会以后中国金 122 Karen Christensen

Further Reading 123 About the Editors 124 About the Authors 125 Index 127 Photo Credits 131 we were working on the night (and often weekends) to com- Acknowledgments International Encyclopedia of plete this ambitious project. Acknowledgments Women and Sports in 1999. It was no small challenge to name Other people who helped a book that is largely about, but not and inspired us include only about, the Olympics and sports. Susan Brownell, Yuan Stephen A. Orlins, president of the Creating a book depends on the Haiwang袁海旺, and LU Zhouxiang National Committee on U.S.-China contributions of far more people than (Paul) 吕洲翔 — with special thanks Relations, an unreformed jock who are evident in any acknowledgments. to Zhouxiang for his invaluable assis- dreamed of participating in the Olym- China Gold 中国金 is the result of a tance in providing the many Chinese pics as a young athlete, came up with close collaboration between more than translations for the book. We’re also the perfect title, China Gold. Both Eng- thirty sports experts and a publish- grateful to our designer, Joe DiStefano, lish speakers and our Chinese editor ing company that specializes in global who proved in the course of designing and authors immediately recognized perspectives. We are honored to be the cover that he has developed an in- it as capturing the larger significance working with editor FAN Hong 凡红 stinct for things Chinese. The first cover of a book that is not only an intro- and with scholars including REN Hai included a small Chinese building. A duction to China in the Olympics but 任海, XIONG Xiaozheng 熊晓正 of Chinese-speaking friend looked at it also to China and Chinese culture Beijing Sport University, TAN Hua 谭 and saw not a house but the character in general — and as reflecting the 华 and HU Xiaomin 胡小明 of South for “gold” — and indeed, it was remark- sense of aspiration that the Olympics China Normal University, LUO Shim- ably similar! What you now see is the symbolizes. ing 罗时铭 of Suzhou University, CAO Chinese character jin 金, which seems Shuohe 曹守和 of Hangzhou Normal to have come to Joe through cultural While the Olympics are a creation of University, FAN Wei 樊维 of Chengdu osmosis — something we’re hoping Western civilization, the 2008 Beijing Sport University, and JIN Yuanpu 金元 readers of China Gold will experience as Games give China a chance to integrate the Olympic ideals into its perspective 浦 of the Renmin University Human- they continue to get to know Chinese vii istic Olympics Studies Center. British culture and history and, most impor- on global leadership and an oppor- coeditor Duncan Mackay, a well-known tant, as they come to understand the tunity to influence an event that has Olympics journalist, proudly carried hopes and dreams that Chinese people unique meaning around the world. We the Olympic torch in London in April have for their country and for our world. dedicate this book to the organizations 2008. and individuals committed to building All the members of the editorial, international understanding, promot- Professor Allen Guttmann of Amherst design, and production team (listed ing respect for diverse perspectives, College, recipient of the International on the preceding copyright page) and solving social, environmental, and Olympic Committee’s first award for deserve gold medals for their high political challenges peacefully and sports history, has been a guide and professionalism, skill, dedication, cooperatively. inspiration for over ten years and and grace under pressure. Working was instrumental in enabling us to on three continents — in English and Note: To ensure that Western readers under- build the global networks that have Chinese — they, too, are champions. stand the correct order of Chinese names, we now produced three major reference Special thanks to Mary Bagg, Tom have followed a new international convention of works on sports around the world. Christensen, Martin Lubin, Marcy Ross, capitalizing family names. He introduced us to Fan Hong when and Brad Walrod, who labored day and publishing on international sports. human experience, an endeavor that, Beijing, 2001 China Gold is an inevitable alchemy, in perhaps more than anything else, con- Beijing, 2001 the sense of the word as defined by nects people worldwide. Basketball Hugh Page, professor at the Univer- and soccer (football) are more university of Notre Dame: “a way of thinking sally known, and loved, than any reli- about the relationship of humanity and gion or food or political system. Sports My first memory of China includes nature that accentuates the importance tell us about who we are and who we the sight of thousands of fragile green of transformation in both.” want to be. They create a shared lan- and silver saplings bending in a strong And its aim is alchemy, in the broad- guage, shared passions; they highlight April wind. They had been planted est sense: not to find the philosopher’s our aspirations and values, our ways of along the airport freeway as part of ef- stone or to create a precious metal but, interacting with one another, and our forts to win the 2008 Olympic Games. as Page says, to “uncover those forces appreciation of competition, achieve- Only a few months later, in July 2001, governing unity, diversity, stasis, and ment, and adventure. the Games were awarded to Beijing. flux in the world.” In the West, alchemy Sports are about fame and fortune, I knew then that soil erosion and sand- is the quest for a substance that “has too; some are among the world’s big- storms were a significant problem, the power to perfect that which is in- gest businesses. Sports can also be and that China’s astonishing economic complete and make noble that which is an agent of social change. Title IX, the development of the past decade, while base.” In that sense, there is something U.S. law that opened college sports to welcome, had come at an environmen- alchemical about the Olympics them- women, also promoted greater partici- tal price. As my taxi sped by mile after selves, which, at their best, provide an pation by women in other aspects of mile of new trees, I thought of the last- opportunity for nations to strive for society, while the success of African ing benefits the Olympics could bring excellence not through economic or athletes in the Olympics has called to China and of the importance of a military domination, but through ath- attention to African achievement and Green Olympics in a developing coun- letic prowess. potential in other areas. viii try with huge population, a country Our goal has been first to provide While the Beijing Games have some that would clearly influence the twenty- unique information for the sports harsh critics, most people see them first century in myriad ways, and one obsessed, yes, but we’ve also pre- as holding more promise than peril. that Western nations hoped to influ- pared a book for anyone and everyone Will China change the Olympics, or will ence as well. intrigued by China, full of background the Olympics change China? Perhaps China Gold 中国金 was conceived in history and facts you won’t get any- neither to the extent that some people the offices of a publishing company in where else. The 2008 Beijing Games may hope, but there’s no doubt that western Massachusetts, a rural re- (only the third to be held in Asia) give the ideals of the Olympics — of fellow- gion of the northeastern United States us a new perspective on a fascinating ship and good sportsmanship, of ath- where three of the world’s most popu- story, that of a 5,000-year-old civiliza- letic prowess and determination, and of lar sports — basketball, volleyball, and tion once again taking up a position of a global community united in working baseball — originated. Our main hall- international influence after centuries toward a common future — will influ- way has been lined with Beijing Olym- of turmoil. ence people inside and outside China pics bid posters since 2001, and during And there’s a bigger story to sports in this year of China Gold 中国金. the intervening years, our China-related as well. Sport is a vital aspect of the n Karen Christensen publishing has expanded, as has our He was impressed by the principle of China?” — as the Games at last came China’s Olympic Dream the Olympics — fair play 公平竞争. to China. China’s He returned to China in October and Chinese people will never forget the introduced the idea — and ideal — of moment on 13 July 2001 in Moscow 中Olympic the Olympic Games to his students in when Juan Antonio Samaranch, then Tianjin 天津. president of the International Olympic Dream After Zhang’s introduction, students of Committee, announced that Beijing Nankai University held a seminar that would host the Twenty-ninth Olympic would become famous for asking the Games in 2008. A century after the 国 “Three Questions about the Olympics.” “Three Questions” were asked, China’s These questions were: When would Olympic dream has finally come true. China send its first athlete to par- The Games of 2008 not only provide ticipate in the Olympic Games? When billions of Chinese with a chance to would Chinese athletes win their first witness China’s success in sports 金中国奥运梦 gold medal at the Olympic Games? firsthand, but also to participate in an 中 When would the Olympic Games be event that marks a crucial milestone on 国 held in China? China’s road to modernization. Host- ing the Olympic Games is a symbol of 奥 In August 1908, the fourth It took the Chinese twenty-four years China’s “linking up with international modern Olympic Games took place in to answer the first question. In 1932 standards” 与世界接轨 — the biggest 运 London, and it was there — in the city China sent LIU Changchun 刘长春, a event in China since the Communist that will host the 2012 Games — that sprinter, to participate in the Olympics 梦 revolution of 1949. ● ● ● ● ● the first steps were taken to set China in Los Angeles. He was eliminated in on the path to Olympic glory. Even the earliest of the preliminary heats. It The Meaning of the though China was not yet a member of was another seventy-six years before Olympic Dream ix the International Olympic Committee the second question was answered. On and Chinese athletes did not com- 29 July 1984, sharpshooter XU Haifeng Acclaimed Chinese filmmaker ZHANG pete, an influential Chinese educator 许海峰 won China’s first gold medal, Yimou 张艺谋 — the director of the ZHANG Boling 张伯苓, the principal in another Los Angeles Olympics. And lavish opening and closing ceremonies of Nankai University 南开大学, was it took a full century to provide an at the 2008 Beijing Olympics — spoke in London, on his way to visit several answer to the final question — “When for the nation when he said: “It is schools and universities in Britain. would the Olympic Games be held in not just an opening ceremony for the

Is It Not a Great Joy to Have Friends Coming From Afar?

his well-known question — answered in the early decades of the Communist period, ture. The Chinese are known for their hospi- Tthe affirmative, naturally — comes from today Confucius Institutes supported by tality and for their belief in the importance the Analects of Confucius (551–479 bce), the Chinese government, similar to the UK’s of building personal relationships. The written by the philosopher and moralist who British Council, have been established at chance for the Chinese nation to welcome has had great intellectual and cultural influ- universities around the world to encourage the world makes the 2008 Olympic Games of ence. While his ideas were dismissed during learning about Chinese language and cul- unprecedented importance. Olympics — it is a way of showing center of politics and diplomacy — a The perception of some Western China’s Olympic Dream China to the world and what is happen- way to demonstrate the superiority of people and the Western media of what ing today.” socialism over capitalism. the Games should bring about is likely Some may wonder why the Olympics Since the 1980s China’s sporting suc- to be different from what the major- mean so much to the Chinese, but if we cess has been regarded not only as ity of ordinary Chinese people might look at the history of the last two cen- evidence of ideological superiority hope for. For the Chinese, especially turies it is easy to understand. China, and economic prosperity, but also a the 94 percent of Beijing citizens one of the world’s oldest civilizations, powerful symbol of national revival. who voted to support the Games, the cherishes the memory of its long su- The government and most of the Chi- Olympics provide the best opportu- premacy at the center of the world and nese people believed that Chinese nity to show the world that the identity the knowledge that China has con- athletes’ excellent performances on of the Chinese culture and people is tributed greatly to global scholarship, the Olympic stage would be the best uniquely different. The Games provide philosophy, and scientific innovation. proof of China’s great achievements in the opportunity to invest in programs In consequence, the Chinese people economic reform and modernization. to control air and water pollution, while 中 feel abiding pain and deep chagrin Brilliant victories achieved by Chinese raising awareness of environmental issues. They provide job opportuni- 国 over what can only be described as athletes at the Olympics not only show repeated humiliations at the hands of China’s ability to stand proudly and in- ties for many people, and will contrib- 奥 the Western and Eastern imperialist dependently among the other nations ute to raising living standards. At the powers in the late nineteenth century of the world, but will also strengthen same time, neighborhood streets have 运 and early twentieth century. the national spirit and confident vision become cleaner and public transportation has improved. New construction 梦 Modern Chinese history is one of of its citizens. To most Chinese people, ● ● ● ● ● and upgrades to the city’s infrastruc- struggle and striving to restore na- the Olympic Games is where they can witness the glory of China, feel proud ture will help make Beijing a first-class tional pride. Since the late twentieth world city after the Games. “One World, century, China, the once “sleeping of being Chinese, and experience unity as a great nation. One Dream” 同一世界, 同一梦想 is not giant,” has amazed the world by the just a slogan but the desire and wish of pace of its economic growth and social Chinese people. change. Determined to catch up with China’s Influence the developed countries, it has taken on the Olympics There is no doubt that the Chinese flag every possible opportunity to restore More so than other host countries, Chi- and the American flag will be raised the nation’s confidence and achieve in- na’s culture and character has deeply side by side at the Games. However, ternational recognition in many areas. influenced the 2008 Games. The Chi- China’s determination goes beyond just winning Olympic gold. What next? The Olympic Games, the largest sport nese have defined the Beijing Games as “humanistic Olympics” 人文奥运, Overtaking the United States economi- event and one of the biggest social and cally by 2039 and becoming the largest corporate enterprises in the world, has “green Olympics” 绿色奥运, and “technological Olympics” . These economic power in the world, as some become a stage upon which China can 高科技奥运 core concepts derive from shared economists predict? Whether or not achieve some of its political, social, international principles, of course, but that occurs, the Beijing Olympic Games and economic objectives. Since the es- have also been influenced by Chinese is seen as a milestone in China’s tablishment of the People’s Republic of cultural understandings about social progress toward becoming a leading China in 1949, sport has been a power- interaction, environmental protection, economic and political power in the ful tool, and in the Maoist era between twenty-first century. 1949 and 1976, sport was for China, and modernization. as well as other nations, right at the n FAN Hong 凡红 P art O ne

The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games 奥运会、亚运会、全运会

eijing lost its first bid for the Olympics to Sydney, but in 2001 the International Olympic Committee voted to award B the Games to China. At last, said a student to a BBC reporter, “The world is embracing us.” As the Games approached, controversies broke out and that embrace seemed at times to change into crossed arms and mutual recriminations. Bringing the Olympics Games to Beijing was first discussed in China one hundred years ago, and Part One of China Gold tells the story of a century of development and challenge, of war and revolution, and of an enduring commitment to build (and rebuild) a nation that could participate on the global stage with stunning athleticism, as well as politically and economically. The Olympics of 2008 have great symbolic importance, and to understand this, we look at China’s participation in the Asian Games, as well as the Olympics, and at the National Games which have been an essential proving ground for Chinese athletes. Seconds later — 11.1 seconds, to be devastating to China’s self-image. Fi- How China Rose to Be a Sporting Giant exact — the first chapter of Chinese nally, only a month before the Olympic How China Olympic history was over. Liu Chang- Games in Los Angeles, the Japanese chun had been eliminated in the first had overrun a helpless Chinese army 中Rose to Be a preliminary heat, finishing well behind in Manchuria. Liu Changchun’s failure most of his competitors. in the preliminary heats seemed just Sporting Giant Liu’s failure became yet another open another sign of Chinese backwardness wound in the long history of defeats and weakness. and humiliation that China had suf- More than seventy years later, another 中国 fered at the hands of foreign powers. young Chinese man, again named Liu, 国 Humiliation had been a constant of moved into his starting position for an Chinese history for almost a century, Olympic sprinting competition, the 110- 体中国体育崛 starting with the defeats during the meter hurdles. Again the expectations Opium Wars of the mid-1800s at the of a whole nation weighed on a young 育金起之路 hands of a technologically superior man’s shoulders. However, this time, 崛 Western power. The 1895 Sino-Japanese when the starting shot was fired, the War, lost to an up-to-then inconse- hopes of his people did not drag the 起 quential neighbor, was even more young man down. Indeed, he seemed A journey of a thousand miles, 之 the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu 老子 said, begins with a single step. And so 路 does a race of 100 meters and a na- ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● tion’s journey to the Olympic spotlight. In 1932 a young man named Liu took that step when he moved into his starting position for the Olympic 100-meter race. As he did, he must have felt the great burden of the moment’s historical significance; he must have withered under the weight of the expectations of a whole nation. LIU Changchun 刘长春 was at that moment the first Chi- nese ever to participate in the Olympic Games, and he was th single representative of the young Chinese Republic at the Olympics in Los Angeles.

Chinese children learn sports such as table tennis at a very young age.

Part One The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games to be buoyed by those hopes. He flew over the hurdles. Exactly 12.91 seconds XU Haifeng How China Rose to Be a Sporting Giant later, equaling the world record time, LIU Xiang 刘翔 had won China’s first n taking the first gold medal of the 1984 The absence of strong contenders from Olympic gold medal in a track-and-field ISummer Olympics in Los Angeles with a Eastern Europe due to the Soviet and competition and was about to become steely performance, sharpshooter Xu Hai- Eastern bloc boycott of the Los Angeles one of China’s greatest sports heroes. feng also became a Chinese icon — he was Games certainly worked to the advantage not simply a winner, but the first winner of of unknowns like Xu, but his win was no Liu’s gold medal was China’s crowning gold for his country since its return to the fluke, and he went on to prove his mettle achievement at the 2004 Athens Olym- Olympic Games after a thirty-two-year ab- in subsequent world competitions. In 1988, 中 pics, placing the Chinese team second sence due to controversy over the recogni- he won a bronze medal at the Summer only to the U.S. team in the gold medal tion of Taiwan. Olympics in Seoul. Other wins accumulated 国 count. The special significance of Liu’s Xu was an unlikely Olympic hero; he’d over the years included three golds at the victory, however, was the fact that he been training in the sport for just two years, Asian Games in Seoul in 1986, four golds at 体 won in a sport in which the Chinese the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990, and five becoming a champion sharpshooter in 育 were traditionally not considered to be Anhui Province in 1982 and winning his first golds at the 7th Asian Championships in 1991 as well as the World Air Pistol Champi- serious competitors because of their national title in 1983. His previous formal ex- 崛 smaller and less-muscular physique. perience at shooting consisted of a week of onship that year. Liu Xiang’s victory marked the begin- military training in high school — although Xu Haifeng’s Los Angeles feat was commem- 起 ning of the end of the assumption that he reputedly was a crack shot with a sling- orated in a Chinese television play, “Shots Chinese athletes are able to excel in shot during his childhood in Fujian Province. over Prada” — a reference to the name of the 之 city’s Olympic shooting range. He donated only a narrow field of sports. Liu, in- Before joining the national shooting team, 路 terviewed after his victory, said before which was coached by a former high school that first Olympic gold medal to China’s Na- ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● tional Museum. Retiring from competition bursting into tears: “I proved that Chi- teacher and would set him on the path to in 1994, Xu became the coach of the gold- nese people, Asian people, and yellow- the Olympics, Xu had been farming and sell- ing chemical fertilizer in rural Anhui Prov- medals teams in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 skinned people are able to do well in Olympics. In anticipation of the 2008 Beijing track events.” ince. Xu went to Los Angeles as the rookie on a team of six — expecting merely “to take Summer Games, Xu took over supervision of These words expressed not only Liu part,” he later said. In the pistol events, at- China’s modern pentathlon team. A quarter Xiang’s pride and happiness over tention gradually shifted from the Swedish century since the event that catapulted him his victory, but also the frustrations world champion, Ragnar Skanaker, to the to fame, Xu Haifeng remains a household name in China. that past generations of Chinese had focused young man from China. Xu’s victory endured. His emotional statement in the 50-meter free pistol shooting final, at n Judy Polumbaum echoed a feeling that remains impor- age twenty-seven, changed his life. tant today: the joy, and the relief, that China feels at finally having overcome an era of weakness and isolation. the question that is asked so fre- country in the world, China obviously China, during a short period of time, quently: How did the Chinese do it? has the advantage of a vast number of has risen from being in athletic terms a people from which to extract athletic developing country to being one of the Ingredients of Success talent. However, this extraction of tal- foremost sports powers in the world. The foundation of athletic success is, ent requires a sophisticated and highly This rise, mirroring China’s overall rise in China as in every other country, organized sports system that identifies to new economic and political power, athletic talent embedded within the and fosters talent. The development of has left many experts baffled and begs population. Being the most populous the Chinese elite sports system, which

奥运会、亚运会、全运会 Organizational How China Rose to Be a Sporting Giant Infrastructure The Chinese elite sports system, adopted during the period of reform and opening up during the 1980s, is based on the Juguo tizhi 举国体制 approach — the support of the whole country for the elite sports system. This approach, which gives priority to 中 the task of elite sports development, 国 assures that all available sports resources are channeled into elite sports. 体 The organizational infrastructure of 育 Chinese elite sports follows many of the principles of the old Soviet sports 崛 system. It features a state-led and tightly controlled, highly centralized, 起 and strictly hierarchical system that 之 relies almost entirely on state funding. Efforts to transform the organiza- 路 tional system established during the ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 1950s into a more decentralized system promoting self-supporting and less- government-dependent sports development have largely failed to produce significant results so far. One core element of the organizational infrastructure of elite sports in China The Chinese Ping-Pong team is the far-reaching, effective system in front of the of talent scouting and advancement, Statue of Liberty frequently called the “pagoda system.” in New York during the 1970s. The basis of this system is manda- tory physical education in the regular schools and in spare-time sports made an unprecedented leap forward provide adequate sports facilities and schools. during the last two decades, required training technology. the carefully managed interplay of Only through an extensive scouting In order to provide these two ingre- system on this basic level can the po- two largely different ingredients: the dients, China developed a distinctive organizational infrastructure to detect tential of the large Chinese gene pool elite sports system that combines be used and athletic talent identified and accommodate athletic talents, and potent characteristics of the Western- the financial and human resources to across the country. Sports scouts travel style approach with the old Soviet-style the country, visiting regular schools in approach. their search for students with athletic

Part One The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games potential. They discover talented ath- during competitions against their dinary rise of Chinese sports. For letes who sometimes are as young as peers, they will be promoted to the up- many decades the Chinese sports How China Rose to Be a Sporting Giant five or six years of age. If children show per levels of the pagoda system at the system suffered from a lack of mate- exceptional talent, they might be of- municipal- and provincial-level sports rial resources — hardly surprising in a fered entry to the multilevel elite sports schools, where they will be in full resi- developing country — which translated education system, consisting of a net- dency and extensively trained. From into inadequate training facilities and work of specialized sports schools. De- there they will have the chance of be- backward training technology. The pending on their age, such children will ing called to the national teams and to organizational system to detect and be sent to one of almost five hundred compete in international competitions. accommodate athletic talent might elite sports primary schools or more China trains about three thousand have been in place, but China did not 中 than two hundred elite sports middle world-class athletes on the national have the monetary means to trans- schools and high schools. level — almost three times as many as form talented children into world-class 国 Currently, approximately 400,000 young the United States. athletes. 体 athletes are being trained in these China’s astonishing economic improve- schools. Their potential for different Financial and Human ment after the reform of its economy 育 Resources sports will be examined, and their during the 1980s provided the neces- 崛 training will be individualized accord- However, organizational infrastructure sary second ingredient for athletic suc- ingly. If they distinguish themselves alone does not explain the extraor- cess: financial and human resources. 起之路 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Ratomir Dujkovic, a famous Serbian footballer and coach, was brought to train China’s team for the Olympics.

奥运会、亚运会、全运会 After the initiation of economic reform, in Chinese training methodology, but combines the most potent features How China Rose to Be a Sporting Giant sports facilities and equipment for elite it has been complemented by more of two different worlds: the strictness sports education in China experienced scientific coaching, sports psychology, and meticulousness of the Soviet-style a massive upgrade. Since then, more and sports medicine techniques. To sports system and the sophistication money has been channeled into the facilitate this transformation, China has and innovativeness of Western-style improvement of sports facilities and imported foreign expertise in train- training, technology, and methodology. into the introduction of foreign, state- ing methodology by hiring successful By the mid-1980s all the ingredients for of-the-art training technology. foreign sports coaches from all over China’s ascent as a global sports power Also, training methodology has be- the world. were present. 中 come more scientific. The traditional Legendary Yugoslavian soccer coach Driving Force, and 国 training method based on the “three Bora Milutinovic, who led the Chinese unafraids” 三不怕 (unafraid of hard- national team into the 2002 World Cup Political Dividends 体 ship, difficulty, and injury) and the “five finals and enjoyed enormous popu- However, ingredients alone do not bake toughnesses” 五过硬, (toughness of larity in China, is only one of many the cake. Important as they are, an 育 spirit, body, skill, training, and com- examples. With this flow of material organizational infrastructure as well as 崛 petition) still plays an important role resources into its sports system, China financial and human resources do not produce a highly successful sports sys- 起 tem by themselves: it takes an intense The Scholarly Stereotype interest in athletic accomplishments on 之 the part of people in power to channel resources into elite sports. In China’s 路 hy has hosting the Olympic Games tion of the “old society.” Also bolstering the ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● case the prerequisite is the political been so important to China for the last stereotype of the sickly Chinese was the W will of the Communist Party of China hundred years? The answer to this ques- publication in 1911 of The Changing Chinese by tion begins with label “sick man of East Edward Ross, a prominent U.S. sociologist. (CPC). The enthusiasm and determina- Asia” (dongya bingfu). This label seems to In that book, Ross complained that young tion that the party displays for the ad- have had its roots in the port city of Tianjin, men imitated the stooped shoulders of the vancement of Chinese athletes suggest where the North American YMCA was par- scholar and wore broad-rimmed glasses that the political benefits deriving from ticularly active. YMCA educators seem to even when they didn’t need them, so they athletic success is particularly high for have held a stereotype of sickly, effeminate, could look like scholars. He decried what he China’s political leadership. In particu- overly intellectual Chinese men. A popular perceived as a lack of admiration for martial lar athletic success yields three forms story circulated among Western physical virtues. And perhaps most damning of all, of political dividends: the strengthen- educators about a British consul in Tianjin he said that the young men played tennis ing of international esteem, the inten- who invited a high Chinese official — the like girls. sification of national unity, and the Daotai — to dinner and afterward personally Of course the notion of the effeminate, intel- demonstration of systemic strength. demonstrated for him the game of tennis. lectual Chinese is strongly contradicted by When he asked the Daotai what he thought, the martial arts tradition. Indeed, one can A significant factor in China’s unparal- the Daotai responded that the consul was argue that kung fu films, more than anything leled economic development, which covered in sweat, and it would be better to else, have erased the perception of the to an extent is based on foreign direct hire someone to play in his place. This story effeminate Chinese among young Western- investment, is the Western image of made its way from the Western educators to ers, who admire Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and China as a land of limitless economic their Chinese pupils and is still widely cited Jet Li. growth and opportunity. However, in China today as an example of the corrup- n Susan Brownell most investors are nervous by nature, and capital is increasingly mobile, even

Part One The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games How China Rose to Be a Sporting Giant

中国体育 Under protest, the Taiwan delegation 崛 to the 1948 Olympic Games had to accept 起 being renamed as Formosa to 之 avoid diplomatic disagreements. 路 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● in China. Therefore, the narrative of heroes of our time. The rise of Chi- men from Guangdong, veterans of the China’s ascent needs to be fed con- nese sports has created many national Communists’ Long March of 1934–35 stantly with new successes, and win- sports heroes, such as Liu Xiang in or their grandchildren who spend their ning Olympic gold medals is one way track and field, YAO Ming 姚明 in bas- days online gaming in an Internet cafe, to do this. Achievements of Chinese ketball, and GUO Jingjing 郭晶晶 in Mongols from Hohhot or Han Chinese athletes in international sports, espe- Olympic women’s diving. These heroes from Beijing. cially in events that are the focus of have become a focal point of national When such spectators witness Chinese intense public attention, are a compel- sentiment that bridges the deep so- athletes outclassing their competitors, ling way of asserting China’s power and cioeconomic, ethnic, and cultural rifts these unbridgeable differences are for- earning international esteem. Interna- that divide today’s China. In a coun- gotten, and all of these people are, at tional esteem is also a prerequisite for try as vulnerable to fragmentation least for the moment, mainly one thing: claiming a more influential position as China, whose national coherence Chinese. Sports have an extraordinary within the international political sys- is constantly threatened by deeply ability to create a feeling of national tem. Therefore, the success of Chinese entrenched divisions running through connectedness that overcomes the athletes does indeed yield a great society, all-embracing symbols of na- divisions of class, age, and ethnicity. political dividend on the international tional unity are of great political value. Success in sports is a powerful source stage. When Chinese spectators watch a of national pride and unity. For China’s The athletic arenas of the modern Chinese athlete achieve victory, it does political leadership, whose power is world are the cradles of the national not matter if those spectators are poor directly connected to the susceptible farmers from Guizhou or rich business-

奥运会、亚运会、全运会 unity and coherence of the People’s the performance of the Chinese politi- From the beginning of the period How China Rose to Be a Sporting Giant Republic of China, this effect of sports cal elite. And most Chinese athletes of reform in the 1980s, the political obviously yields an enormous politi- are indeed well versed in stressing that dividends of sports success have been cal dividend, creating a strong political their success is owed to the Chinese high. The organizational structure incentive to allocate resources to the state and the party. During a time necessary for the creation of a su- elite sports system. when the Chinese Communist Party perlative sports power was already in A third important political dividend faces enormous political challenges to place, and the material means began lies in the power of association. Inter- its power, when its legitimacy is no lon- to be readily available. Subsequently, national competitiveness in sports is ger measured by revolutionary heritage virtually all the stars were aligned for 中 the privilege of wealthy and power- but rather by tangible political perfor- the ascent of China as a global sports mance and success, the party looks power — and that is why five equally 国 ful nations. China’s rise in the athletic arena can therefore be utilized as a for new ways to prove its capability. aligned stars, in bright yellow on red 体 symbol of the strength of the Chinese Producing successful athletes is one ground, will certainly be seen many political system and its leadership, as a way for the political leadership to dem- times as the national flags are raised 育 symbol of the competence of the Chi- onstrate its capacity and to strengthen at the medal ceremonies of the 2008 nese Communist Party. The glow of the its assertion that the current political Beijing Olympics. 崛 leadership can successfully lead China gold medals around Chinese athletes’ n Bjoern Conrad 起 necks also shines a positive light on into a future full of challenges. 之路 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Part One The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games end of the eighteenth century, but still United States to learn about sport and dominated the nation culturally as well physical education in private and pub- China in the Olympic Games China in the as militarily. In addition, a number of lic schools as well as in colleges and Western sports that are now contested universities and then convened a con- 中Olympic at the Olympics came to China in the ference in Paris to discuss the revival nineteenth century, usually due to of the ancient Olympic Games. The first educators at missionary schools and modern Games were a huge success, Games universities, or under the auspices of with over 60,000 people attending in the Young Men’s Christian Association the restored grand marble stadium at 国 (YMCA). The British brought modern Olympia, Greece. Coubertin told the soccer to to Shanghai in 1856. Basket- world that he had revived the Games ball, which originated in 1891 at the with these goals: 1) as a cornerstone 中国 YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, for health and cultural progress; 2) for 中 arrived in China only four years later. education and character building; 3) for 金与奥运会 The first modern Olympic Games were international understanding and peace; 国 4) for equal opportunity; 5) for fair and held in 1896, thanks to the work of 与 Pierre de Coubertin. Coubertin had equal competition; 6) for cultural ex- traveled widely in England and the pression; 7) for beauty and excellence; 奥 Two thousand years ago, QU Yuan 屈原 (340–278 bce), a famous Chi- 运 nese poet, wrote, “The road toward the destination is very long. I will search 会 Gold-Medal Fever ● ● ● ● ● ● heaven and earth to get there.” This quotation aptly describes the journey China undertook to bring the Olym- or many nations, including the United hands of the West and Japan, and are united States and China, the desire for Olympic today in a desire to restore national pres- pic Games to Beijing. The history of F gold medals is based on political objectives. tige and gain international recognition. China’s participation in the Olym- During the Cold War, the politicization of The Games are simultaneously a ritual of pic Games can be divided into three sport reflected the confrontation between periods: the Qing dynasty 清 (before international cohesion and a battlefield on Communism and capitalism. After the Cold which to beat economically advanced na- 1911), the Republic (1911–1949), and the War, it has reflected the confrontation be- tions and restore China’s confidence. The People’s Republic (1949–present). tween nation-states. Governments also use Chinese, who suffered significantly in the Long before the Olympic Movement sport as a call to unity, and sometimes to conflicts of the twentieth century, long to distract attention from social problems such spread to China, a few Western sports triumph in the Olympic Games. It was less as corruption and unemployment. existed there. Some were military than twenty-five years ago when, in 1984, exercises imported from Europe and Among ordinary Chinese people, the Olym- China reemerged on the Olympic stage after the United States, which were in ac- pic gold-medal fever springs from feelings an absence of thirty-two years. A poor na- unique to China: a sense of great pride and tion, it nonetheless won fifteen gold medals, cord with the Chinese martial spirit also crushing inferiority. Chinese people and came in fourth in total gold medals. The and could be used to support the cherish the knowledge that China was once nation’s success excited the entire Chinese traditional Chinese ideal of a unified the cultural center of the world and are nos- population. “Break through Asia and Charge regime known as the ‘‘Central King- talgic for the glorious prosperity of the Tang the World” became both a slogan and a dom” Zhongguo 中国. This regime, dynasty (618–907 ce). They are pained by dream for the Chinese. the Qing Dynasty, had been deterio- the more recent history of humiliation at the rating gradually in authority since the

奥运会、亚运会、全运会 and 8) for independence of sport as an educators suggested that China should pines, China, and Japan proposed that China in the Olympic Games instrument of social reform, rather than participate in the games. However, an Asian Olympic Games among Asian government legislation. there was no response from the Qing countries be held every two years. In It is generally agreed that when the government. There was no other im- 1913 the first Asian Olympic Games French envoy forwarded an invitation petus sufficient to take China into took place in Manila, Philippines. It to the Chinese government to par- international sporting competition. But was an imitation of the Olympic Games ticipate in the first modern Olympic the notion of such an event clearly in- including all the regulations, rules, Games, officials showed no interest trigued some outward-looking Chinese ceremonies, and even the use of the in taking part. In 1904, when the Third educators. English language. It was called the Far Olympic Games took place in St. Louis, The Qing dynasty, which had ruled Eastern Olympiad. The International the Chinese media began to report it. China since 1644, was overthrown in Olympic Committee (IOC) welcomed In 1907, before the Fourth Olympics the Republican revolution of 1911. Dur- the games but suggested that the word 中 took place in London, a few Chinese ing that year the YMCAs of the Philip- Olympiad should not be used in the future. Therefore, in 1915 when the games 国 took place in Shanghai, the name was changed to “Far Eastern Championship 与 Games” (FECG). The IOC sent a tele- 奥 gram of congratulations to the games. The relationship between the IOC and 运 China grew. In 1922 the IOC invited 会 WANG Zhenting 王正廷 (1882–1961), ● ● ● ● ● ● former Chinese foreign minister and architect of the FECG, to be the first member of the IOC from China. In 1939 10 KUNG Xiang-xi 孔祥熙 (1880–1967), minister of finance, and in 1947 DONG Shouyi 董守义 (1895–1978), general secretary of the China Athletic Asso- ciation, became members of the IOC successively.

China Enters the Olympics In 1928, when the Ninth Olympic Games took place in Amsterdam, China sent one observer, SONG Ruhai. Then, in 1932 China participated in the Tenth Olympics in Los Angeles by sending a Supporters of single athlete, LIU Changchun 刘长春, Beijing’s 1993 bid a sprinter and national champion, and to host the 2000 his coach to the games. After twenty- Olympics flood the Great Wall five days at sea, when Liu finally arrived to demonstrate in Los Angeles, he was too exhausted their enthusiasm. to perform well and was eliminated

Part One The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games over China, and established the Beijing prepared to participate in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Melbourne Olympics in 1956. How- China in the Olympic Games The Nationalists fled to Taiwan. ever, when it was informed that Taiwan Both Communists and National- would attend, Beijing withdrew, despite ists claimed that they were the the fact that the qualifying events legitimate government of China. had taken place and more than four- Thus began the era of the “two teen hundred Chinese athletes from Chinas “ in political and sports twenty-seven provinces, cities, and history. autonomous regions had attended the The Communists lost no time in preparatory competitions in China, and recognizing the importance of ninety-two athletes had been selected the Olympic Games as an inter- for the PRC sports delegation and were national stage on which China’s waiting to go to the Olympics. Instead, 中 identity could be asserted. In Taiwan participated. 1952, when the Fifteenth Olym- 国 pic Games took place 与 in Helsinki, the IOC invited both Beijing and 奥 Taiwan to participate. Taiwan claimed that it 运 could not “compete with 会 Communist bandits on ● ● ● ● ● ● the same sports field” and withdrew from the Liu Changchun, China’s first Olympic games in protest. 11 athlete, competed as a sprinter in the China is said to have re- 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. ceived the invitation from the IOC just one day before in the heats. Four years later, China the opening ceremony. They sent its first substantial contingent: managed, nonetheless, to 141 Chinese athletes traveled to Berlin send a delegation of forty to to compete in the Eleventh Olympic Helsinki one week later to Games. They did not win a medal, but raise the national flag at the after World War II, when the Games Olympic Village and watch resumed in London in 1948, China the last few events. sent forty athletes. There was still no medal to take home, in the last of the Games before the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. In 1949 the Chinese Communist Party, under the leadership of MAO Zedong 毛泽东, defeated the Nationalists (Kuomintang) Ma Yanhong won gold in led by CHIANG Kai-shek 蔣介石, took the 1984 Olympics.

奥运会、亚运会、全运会 China in the Olympic Games

中国与 Huge celebrations broke out across China late at night 奥 when the news came that Beijing had been 运 selected as the host for the 2008 Olympics. 会 ● ● ● ● ● ●

Two years later, in August 1958, disap- “Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee” in the gold medal tally. Although the 12 pointed with the IOC’s ambiguous at- and change the name of its team from good showing in Los Angeles was titude toward the “two Chinas,” the PRC the “Chinese Olympic Team” to “China partly attributed to the absence of the withdrew its membership from the IOC. Taipei.” In this way both Beijing and Soviet Union and the Democratic Therefore, between 1958 and 1980, Tai- Taiwan would be able to participate in Republic of Germany, it excited the wan represented China at six Olympics. the Olympics. Chinese — from government officials to The situation started to change in the In 1984 at Los Angeles, the PRC ordinary citizens. “Develop elite sport 1970s. In 1972 Lord Killanin became reemerged at the Olympics after an and make China a superpower in the the new president of the IOC. He felt absence of thirty-two years. It won world” became both a slogan and that the IOC should not continue to fifteen gold medals and finished fourth dream for the Chinese. ignore Red China and exclude one-

fourth of the world’s population from Table 1 n China’s Participation in the Summer Olympics 1984–2004 the Olympic Movement and the games. Gold Silver Bronze Total Gold Medal He visited Beijing in 1977. The famous Games Year Host City Medals Medals Medals MedalS rANking “Olympic formula” was produced in 23 1984 Los Angeles 15 8 9 32 4 1979 and China renewed its member- 24 1988 Seoul 5 11 12 28 7 ship in the IOC. Taiwan, according to 25 1992 Barcelona 16 22 16 54 4 the Olympic formula, would change the 26 1996 Atlanta 16 22 12 50 4 name of its Olympic committee from 27 2000 Sydney 28 16 15 59 3 the “Chinese Olympic Committee” to 28 2004 Athens 32 17 14 63 3

Part One The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games However, for the Chinese the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, were a The IOC and the “Two China Question” China in the Olympic Games nightmare. When two sport superpowers, the Soviet Union and the Demo- ith the triumph of Mao Zedong’s Com- Republic of China. In a series of arguments cratic Republic of Germany, returned to Wmunists over the Nationalist followers and angry rebuffs, the People’s Republic the Olympics, China’s gold medal tally of Chiang Kai-shek in China’s drawn-out civil failed to move the IOC toward their point of shrank to five. China had slipped from war of the 1930s and 1940s, still another vex- view: the argument that with a population fourth to eleventh in gold medals. ing problem presented itself. Which was the fifty times that of Taiwan, indeed a popula- real China in the eyes of the International tion figure that represented nearly one-third In 1992 China fought back at the Bar- Olympic Committee (IOC)? Mainland Com- of the world’s total numbers, it was the real celona Olympics. Although the Soviet munists? Or Nationalists who had retreated China; Taiwan was but an obscure offshore Union had broken up into several coun- to Formosa, an island off China’s coast that province. Stubbornly, the PRC remained tries, it still took part as a unit under eventually became known as Taiwan? Be- aloof from the Olympics until changes in the name of the “Commonwealth of In- cause the prewar national Chinese Olympic political times prompted their appearance 中 dependent States” (CIS). The two Ger- Committee had been in the hands of the at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.” 国 manys had reunited, and the country Nationalists, the IOC recognized Taiwan, n Robert Barney which in turn insisted upon being called the was even more powerful than before. 与 Nevertheless, China won sixteen gold medals and returned to fourth place in 奥 the gold medal count. traditionally dominated by Western competed in, China has moved up the 运 In Atlanta in 1996, the Chinese again athletes: track and field, swimming, medal tally in world record time.” China won sixteen gold medals and remained rowing, and canoeing. With sixty-three has become one of the three super- 会 fourth on the gold medal count. But medals in total, China finished third powers, with the United States and ● ● ● ● ● ● in Sydney in 2000, China achieved a in the medal rankings after the United Russia, in the Summer Olympics. historical breakthrough. It increased its States and Russia. With thirty-two gold The moment that the Athens Olym- gold medal count to twenty-eight and medals China beat the Russians and pics ended the world media turned its 13 finished third. finished second to the United States. attention to Beijing, home of the 2008 Furthermore, Chinese athletes estab- In Athens in 2004, the Chinese com- Olympics, and the next gold medal lished six world records, and they broke peted in 203 events and won thirty-two confrontation between China and the Olympic records twenty-one times. gold, seventeen silver, and fourteen United States. After their triumph in Athens, the Ca- bronze medals. Among thirty-two n FAN Hong 凡红 gold medals, four were won in events ble News Network (CNN) commented: “In the six Olympic Games they have

奥运会、亚运会、全运会 ability among the Asian youth and Asian Games to unite the Asian countries through Asian Ties Asian sport. The Far Eastern Championship Games were staged ten times from he strengthening of intra-Asian ties, 中 Games 1913 to 1934, before being terminated Tlike the development of the European by political conflicts resulting from the Union, is a natural evolution for China and rise of militarism in Japan. its neighbor nations, given ties of geogra- phy and culture. Asian organizations tend to After World War II, the Asian Games be inclusive, with some trade and political Federation (AGF) was established in associations including Latin American coun- 国 1949 in New Delhi, India, to unite Asian tries, Australia, New Zealand and India, and countries through sports in the “New sometimes giving extra-regional observer Era.” Collectively, the events would status to countries such as Mongolia, India, 中中国与亚 be called the Asian Games. The First Pakistan and Iran. The Asian Games, too, Asian Games were staged in New draw participants from across the full span 国金运会 Delhi, India, 4–11 March 1951, with only of the continent. 与 eleven nations sending athletes and only six events (all Western in origin): 亚 Japan was the major contender. Since up their government in exile, sent no In 1911, when the news reached then, Western sports have dominated Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the presi- sports team but did send a group of 运 the program, although attempts have dent of the International Olympic nine observers. been made to add indigenous Asian 会 Committee, that the YMCAs of the The federation decided to follow the ● ● ● ● ● ● sports including martial arts and the Philippines, China, and Japan had Olympics pattern and hold the games Indian pursuit sport of kabbadi. The established the Far Eastern Olympic every four years. Taiwan and Hong People’s Republic of China (PRC), Association to host games that were to Kong participated in the Second Asian 14 which had been established in 1949 be an imitation of the modern Olym- Games, hosted in Manila, Philippines, under MAO Zedong 毛泽东, while the pic Games, he was reputedly pleased. 1–9 May 1954, and finished sixth and Nationalists fled to Taiwan and set He demanded, however, that the Far Eastern Olympic Association should not use the term Olympiad because that term should be used to refer only to the modern Olympic Games, which had begun under Coubertin’s leadership in 1896. Accordingly, the name of the fledging association was changed to the “Far Eastern Games Federation,” and the name of the games changed to the “Far Eastern Championship Games” in 1915. A young girl In 1913 the first such games took place introduces the in Manila, Philippines. The purpose of Iraqi delegation the games, according to the directors to the Far Eastern Championship of the YMCAs, was to promote athletic Games in 1927.

Part One The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games twelfth, respectively, in the medal tally Table 1 n China’s Participation in Second Asian Games Asian Games (see table 1). At this point, the Com- Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total munist People’s Republic of China 6 Taiwan 2 4 6 12 stopped its participation in the Asian 12 Hong Kong — — 1 1 Games to avoid the controversy arising from the “two Chinas” situation — both Table 2 n China’s Participation in Third Asian Games Communists and Nationalists claiming Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total that they were the legitimate govern- 4 Taiwan 6 9 10 25 ment of China. 16 Hong Kong — — 1 1

At the Third Asian Games, hosted in Table 3 n China’s Participation in Fourth Asian Games Tokyo, 24 May–1 June 1958, 173 ath- Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total letes from Taiwan competed and won 12 Hong Kong — — 1 1 six gold medals, finishing fourth. This 中 was the best ranking for Taiwan in the Table 4 n China’s Participation in Fifth Asian Games 国 Asian Games. CHUAN-KWANG Yang Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total 杨传广, a decathlete, won a gold medal 8 Taiwan 5 9 10 24 与 in the second and third Asiads, thereby 16 Hong Kong — — 1 1 earning the nickname “Asian Iron Man” 亚亚洲铁人. At the 1960 Olympics in Table 5 n China’s Participation in Sixth Asian Games 运 Rome, he broke an Olympic record and Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total won China’s first Olympic silver medal. 12 Taiwan 1 5 12 18 会 Hong Kong participated in the Third ● ● ● ● ● ● Asian Games as well (see table 2). Table 6 n China’s Participation in Seventh Asian Games The Fourth Asian Games were hosted Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total 3 China 33 45 28 106 in Jakarta, Indonesia, 24 August–4 15

September 1962. The Indonesian gov- Table 7 n China’s Participation in Eighth Asian Games ernment refused the entry of the del- Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total egation from Taiwan, so only athletes 2 China 51 55 45 151 from Hong Kong participated. They 17 Hong Kong — 2 3 5 won one bronze metal (see table 3). The Fifth and Sixth Asian Games were staged in Bangkok, Thailand, 9–20 De- council of the Asian Games Federation At the Eighth Asian Games in Bangkok, cember 1966, and 24 August–4 Septem- had voted to accept the People’s Thailand, 9–20 December 1978, China ber 1970. Taiwan and Hong Kong sent Republic of China as a member and to participated in fifteen of the nineteen teams to both games but performed withdraw recognition of Taiwan. The sports and raised its ranking to second poorly. Taiwan’s ranking dropped to PRC sent its first team to the Asian behind Japan (see table 7). eighth and then twelfth among the par- Games: 269 athletes competed in The Ninth Asian Games, in New Delhi, ticipants (see tables 4 and 5). fourteen sports and won 106 medals, India, 19 November–4 December 1982, finishing third after Japan and Iran in were the last Asiad to be held under China’s participation changed dramati- the medal tally (see table 6). Chinese cally in the Seventh Asian Games in the authority of the AGF. China sent its athletes performed well in shooting, largest team — 444 athletes — since its Teheran, Iran, 1–16 September 1974. diving, gymnastics, and badminton. About a year before the games, the return to the Games. Although China

奥运会、亚运会、全运会 and Japan won the same number of At the Tenth Asian Games, in Seoul, triumphant, winning 90 percent of the Asian Games medals, China won sixty-one to Japan’s South Korea, 20 September–5 competitions. fifty-seven gold medals, taking first December 1986, China participated in The Tenth Asian Games was the first place in the medal tally (see table 8). twenty of the twenty-five sports (see organized by the Olympic Council of The young Chinese high jumper ZHU table 9). The Chinese gymnast LI Ning Asia (OCA), which succeeded the Asian Jianhua 朱建华 cleared the bar at 2.33 李宁 won four gold and two silver med- Games Federation in 1981. The General meters, not only breaking the Asian als. Later he became president of the Assembly of the OCA adopted the record but also setting the best record Li Ning Company, a well-known sports- International Olympic Committee’s way in the year. wear company in China. At this Asiad, of dealing with China’s participation in China, Japan, and South Korea were the Olympics. As a result, Taiwan returned to the Asian Games with the Table 8 n China’s Participation in Ninth Asian Games name “Chinese Taipei” 中国台北. An 中 Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total agreement between the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Chinese 国 1 China 61 51 41 153 20 Hong Kong — — 1 1 Taipei Olympic Committee in 1989 与 paved the way for athletes of Taiwan Table 9 n China’s Participation in Tenth Asian Games to take part in the next Asiad, hosted 亚 Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total in Beijing. 1 China 94 82 46 222 The Eleventh Asian Games were the 运 10 Hong Kong 1 1 3 5 first hosted in Beijing, 22 September–

会 Table 10 n China’s Participation in Eleventh Asian Games 7 October 1990. They were also the first ● ● ● ● ● ● international multisport megaevent Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 China 183 107 51 341 staged in China. These games im- 16 Chinese Taipei proved China’s international relations 16 (Taiwan) — 10 21 31 and national integration. These games 17 Hong Kong — 2 5 7 were also the first participated in by 23 Macao — — 1 1 athletes from China’s mainland, Tai- wan, Hong Kong, and Macao. For this Table 11 n China’s Participation in Twelth Asian Games reason the OCA declared this Asiad Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total one of the best in history. Ninety-eight 1 China 125 83 58 266 Asian records were broken — a record 7 Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) 7 12 24 43 number! Preparing for the games, 21 Hong Kong — 5 7 12 Beijing built twenty stadiums and 26 Macao — 1 1 2 gymnasiums and renovated thirteen others. As the host country, China Table 12 n China’s Participation in Thirteenth Asian Games demonstrated its pride and strength by Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total winning nearly 60 percent of the gold 1 China 129 78 67 274 medals (183), securing its standing as 6 Chinese Taipei the Asian superpower in sports (see ta- (Taiwan) 19 17 41 77 ble 10). It was at this Asiad that DENG 13 Hong Kong 5 6 6 17 Yaping 邓亚萍, who later dominated 29 Macao — 1 — 1 world tournaments in table tennis, at-

Part One The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games Asian Games

中国与亚 The opening ceremonies of 运 the Sixth Asian Winter Games. 会 ● ● ● ● ● ● tracted attention by winning three gold At the Thirteenth Asian Games in medal tally with 129 gold medals (see medals and one silver medal. Bangkok, Thailand, 6–20 December table 12). The largest Games to date, 17 At the Twelfth Asian Games in Hiro- 1998, China kept its top ranking in the with 9,469 athletes and officials from shima, Japan, 2–16 October 1994, five former republics of the Soviet Union in central Asia competed for the first Politics and the Asian Games time, bringing the number of participating national Olympic committees he Asian Games are a major Olym- President Sukarno of Indonesia used the to forty-two. Although China won only Tpic “tune-up” festival — a chance for Jakarta Games to assert Indonesian leader- 125 gold medals, in contrast to 183 at world-class athletes to prepare for the ship in the third world, and angering both the previous Asiad, China remained in Olympics — and like the Olympics they have rival India and the International Olympic first place in the medal tally (see table been affected by political conflicts. Israel Committee. Similarly, for the 1982 Games, has often been excluded because of its ties India spent nearly $1 billion to construct 11). The outstanding athlete in this to the West; Taiwan suffered the same fate new sports facilities, and South Korea’s Asiad was Chinese gymnast MO Huilan in 1962. Mainland Chinese athletes did not hosting of the 1988 Games helped to make 莫慧兰. She won five gold medals and compete until 1974, and Iraq was barred in it a legitimate power in several sports. At one silver medal. The International 1990. The Games have been used by politi- the same time, Korea was criticized for its Federation of Gymnastics later named cal leaders to enhance their own and their repression of student protestors during the a movement she originated in her rou- nation’s power in Asia and beyond. In 1962, Games. tine after her.

奥运会、亚运会、全运会 Chinese weightlifters and shooters did Asian Games Guangzhou — Trading Center through the Centuries especially well. Six weightlifters broke world records, and the Chinese wom- uangzhou, the trading hub of the Pearl has played a pivotal role in China’s modern- en’s shooting team broke a world re- GRiver Delta and the main point of ization effort, attracting foreign capital and cord that had stood for thirteen years. entry to China from the Hong Kong Special investment. The Fifteenth Asian Games were Administrative Region, is the home of the The Canton Trade Fair has grown from the hosted in Doha, Qatar, 1–15 December biannual Chinese Export Commodities Fair, attendance of 1,223 businesspeople from 19 2006. These games were the last major more commonly known as the Canton Trade countries in 1957 to over 80,000 business- event similar to the Olympics before Fair, which was founded in 1957. As far back people from 180 countries in 2005, while as the eleventh century, foreign traders China hosts the Olympics in 2008. trade volume has soared from US$17.54 mil- Therefore, China used these Asian lived in Guangzhou, trading ivory and spices lion in 1957 to over $30 billion. for silk and tea. In recent years, Guangzhou Games to prepare its athletes for the 中 2008 Olympics. More than 60 percent of the Chinese athletes were new faces. 国 Even though they were less experi- 与 over forty-one nations, the Bangkok Kong, a gold medalist at the Olympics enced in the international arena, they Games were free of major political in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996, won her performed well and kept China in first 亚 problems in the spirit of its motto: first Asiad gold medal at these games. place in the medal tally for the seventh Friendship Beyond Frontiers. straight Asiad. Of the five world records 运 The Fourteenth Asian Games were This Asiad marked the first that Hong hosted in Pusan, South Korea, 2–16 broken in these games, four were bro- 会 Kong participated in after its unifica- September 2002. They were the first ken by Chinese women weightlifters. ● ● ● ● ● ● tion with China in 1997. Hong Kong Asian Games participated in by all CHEN Yanqing 陈艳青, a twenty-seven- athletes won five gold medals. The members of the OCA. China won 150 year-old woman gold medalist at the sailor LAI-SHAN Lee 李丽珊 of Hong gold medals (see table 13), and the Athens Olympics in 2004, broke three 18 world records at Doha. Hong Kong sent the largest delegation in its history Table 13 n China’s Participation in Fourteenth Asian Games with 320 athletes. Their performances Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total were quite good (see table 14). 1 China 150 84 74 308 The Sixteenth Asian Games will be 7 Chinese Taipei staged in Guangzhou (Canton), a (Taiwan) 10 17 25 52 southern city on the Pearl River Delta, 16 Hong Kong 4 6 11 21 in November 2010. Guangzhou is 29 Macao — 2 2 4 China’s third-largest city, a major hub Table 14 n China’s Participation in Fifteenth Asian Games for international commerce, and the Rank Participant Gold Silver Bronze Total location of the second Asiad China has 1 China 165 88 63 316 hosted since 1990. The city regards the 10 Chinese Taipei preparation for the Asian Games as an (Taiwan) 9 10 27 46 opportunity to accelerate the city’s 15 Hong Kong 6 12 10 28 development and enhance its prestige. 30 Macao — 1 6 7 n REN Hai 任海

Part One The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games Tenth National Games in 2005, Chinese In 1910, at the eve of the birth of the athletes have won 1,899 world titles Republic of China (in 1911), the Shang- China’s N ational Games China’s (world cups, world championships) and hai YMCA initiated the first of an ear- Olympic medals. The National Games, lier series of National Games and held 中National like the Olympics, demonstrate China’s them in Nanjing. One hundred and determination to forge boldly ahead, forty athletes from North and South economically and politically, in the China, Shanghai, Wuning, Nanjing, and Games twenty-first century. Suzhou took part in track and field, soccer, basketball, and tennis. After 国 Early Competitions the establishment of the republic, six Before the founding of the People’s Re- National Games were held at irregular public of China in 1949, the first sports intervals: Beijing, 1914; Wuchang, 1924; 中国全 meet was held in 1890, during the Qing Hangzhou, 1930; Nanjing, 1933; Shang- dynasty, in Shanghai, when St. John’s hai, 1935; and again in Shanghai, 1948. 金运会 College hosted a track-and-field meet. Some of the games in this period 中 St. John’s College was a U.S. mission- served the function of selecting elite 国 ary college in Shanghai and was among athletes for major international sports the first missionary schools and col- events and so were held before each of 全 The National Games of the leges to promote modern sports in the Far Eastern Championship Games People’s Republic of China have been China. Influenced by such missionary and the Berlin and London Olympic 运 regarded as mini-Olympic Games schools, state-run schools also began Games. They also promoted sports in China. Take the recent National 会 to organize sports competitions at the participation in Chinese society in gen- ● ● ● ● ● Games, which took place in 2005, as beginning of the twentieth century. eral and in schools and universities in an example. It had almost ten thou- Thereafter, collegiate sports compe- particular. sand elite athletes competing in 357 titions took place in major Chinese 19 events in thirty-two sports, most of In 1949 the People’s Republic of China cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and which are Olympic events, following was established by the Chinese Com- Tianjin. It was from these beginnings the rules and regulations used in the munist Party. The new government that a national sports meet developed. Olympics. In addition, all the Olympic continued to hold the National Games rituals were practiced at the games: the because they were a tool for social torch relay, lighting of the flame, logo, mascot, athlete’s oath, playing of the games and national anthems, raising Where the Athletes Come From of the games and the national flags, and opening and closing ceremonies. The National Games, the largest and n China, almost every province has its the Olympic champions hailing from Liaon- highest level comprehensive sports Iown top sports. For example, there are ing are Yuan Hua (women’s judo, Sydney), many first-class badminton players in Hunan WANG Junxia (women’s 10,000 meter, At- event in China, have prepared Chinese Province, and Hebei Province is famous for lanta), WANG Yifu (men’s shooting, Athens), athletes for international competi- shooting. However, among all the provinces WANG Nan (women’s table tennis, Sydney tions and have played an important Liaoning Province has contributed most and Athens), and ZHANG Ning (women’s role in China’s achievements in inter- to the miraculous performance of Chinese badminton, Athens.) national sports. Between the PRC’s elite athletes in the Olympic arena. Among First National Games in 1959 and the

奥运会、亚运会、全运会 cohesion and national unity. Since 1959 China’s N ational Games the National Games have been held ten times. (See table 1.) The games are generally organized and financed by the central and regional governments. Nevertheless, since the Sixth National Games in 1987, funding has come from government, sponsors, and advertisements.

PRC’s First National Games, 1959 The First National Games took place 中 in Beijing in 1959, after the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the found- 国 ing of the People’s Republic of China. The games were intended to show the 全 superiority of the socialist system, the 运 high spirit of the Chinese people who were building a socialist country, and 会 the progress that had been made in ● ● ● ● ● the past ten years. The Workers’ Sta- dium in Beijing was especially built and became one of the ten biggest 20 buildings in China. More than seven thousand athletes from twenty-nine provinces and autonomous regions as well as from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) participated in thirty-six competition sports and six performance sports. The Communist Party leaders attached great importance to the games, and Party leaders including Chairman MAO Zedong 毛泽东, President LIU Shaoqi 刘少奇, and Premier ZHOU Enlai 周恩来 attended the opening ceremony. HE Long 贺龙, vice premier and head of Liu Xiang waves the national sports ministry, gave the the flag of the Shanghai opening speech. Zhou Enlai awarded delegation to the a sports merit medal to those athletes 2005 Chinese who broke world records and had won National Games.

Part One The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games Table 1 n National Games of China ken, and NI Zhiqin 倪志钦, competing China’s N ational Games National Games Year Place Athletes in the high jump, became the star of First 1959 Beijing 7,707 the games. He broke the world record Second 1965 Beijing 5,922 with a jump of 2.25 meters. Competi- Third 1975 Beijing 12,497 tors from Guangdong, Beijing, and Fourth 1979 Beijing 15,189 Shanghai won gold medals. Fifth 1983 Shanghai 9,697 In April 1975, various events empha- Sixth 1987 Guangdong Province 7,518 sized the growing importance of mass Seventh 1993 Beijing and Sichuan Province 10,510 Eighth 1997 Shanghai 7,647 sports in China. With the approval of Ninth 2001 Guangdong Province 12,314 the State Council, the National Sports Tenth 2005 Jiangsu Province 9,986 Ministry released the “Notice on the Nationwide Implementation of the National Physical Exercise Standards world championships during the past ing. Following the People’s Republic’s Regulations,” 国家体育锻炼标准 re- ten years. Four world records, in swim- success at the Twenty-sixth World quiring physical education in school 中 ming, parachuting, shooting, and aero- Table Tennis Championships in 1961, and in the army. At the games awards 国 modeling, were broken at the games. table tennis became the most popular were presented to three hundred out- Swimmer MU Xiangxiong 穆祥雄 was sport event at the National Games. standing work units. At this time more 全 one of the games outstanding athletes. than twenty-three thousand people Together, more than sixteen thousand 运 people performed a set of group cal- performed the mass group calisthen- Second National isthenics entitled “Ode to Revolution” ics “Ode to the Red Flag” 红旗颂 at the 会 Games, 1965 ● ● ● ● ● 革命赞歌 at the opening ceremony in opening ceremony. In 1965 the Second National Games front of Chairman Mao Zedong and were also held in Beijing, six years after other Communist Party leaders. This Fourth National the first games. In that period Chinese display indicated that the Chinese Games, 1979 21 sports had made significant progress. people were going all out to conquer In 1979 Beijing was again the site In 1961 the Twenty-sixth World Table difficulties and achieve success in all for the National Games. More than Tennis Championships had been held aspects of socialist society. fifteen thousand athletes from thirty- in Beijing, and China had won the one provinces (including Taiwan), men’s team title for the first time. The Third National municipalities, autonomous regions, training principle of assiduity and Games, 1975 and the PLA competed in thirty-two obedience became the guiding prin- The Third National Games were held in adult events and two junior events. ciple of the Chinese elite sports Beijing in 1975. There were twenty-eight The 25,000-li (1 li = 500 meters) New training system. competition sport, and six perfor- Long March torch relay appeared at Almost six thousand athletes from mance sports in the games. A total of the games for the first time. The touch twenty-nine provinces, municipalities, 12,497 athletes from thirty-one delega- relay route followed in the footsteps of autonomous regions, and the PLA took tions from all over the country com- the famous Long March of 1935, a criti- part. There were twenty-two events, peted. Winter sports made their first cal event in Chinese Communist Party and martial arts was listed as a per- appearance, and they included speed history. The torch relay symbolized that formance event for the first time. Nine skating, ice hockey, figure skating, ski- in the 1980s China, led by the Commu- world records were broken, in weight ing, and short-distance speed skating, nist Party, would begin another Long lifting, archery, parachuting, and shoot- Three shooting world records were bro- March that would lead the country

奥运会、亚运会、全运会 toward modernization in the new era. opening China up to the outside world tional Olympic Committee president China’s N ational Games DENG Xiaoping 邓小平, the new leader and catching up with the Western Juan Samaranch attended the opening of the Communist Party, attended the countries, Chinese sports had begun ceremony. opening ceremony. to enter the international arena. China Almost nine thousand athletes from Athletes broke 5 world records and had renewed its membership in the twenty-nine provinces, municipalities, equaled 3 more. They also broke 8 International Olympic Committee (IOC) autonomous regions, the PLA, and the Asian records and 102 national rein 1979 and it had participated in the Locomotive Sports League took part in cords. The games awarded the Medal Asian Games in 1982. China placed first twenty-five competition sports and one of Honor in Sports to fifty-one ath- in both the gold medal count and total performance sport. Chinese athletes letes who had won world titles and medals won to establish its dominant broke two world records and equaled to coaches who had made significant position in the Asian sports world. three others. The best performance contributions since 1979. On 9 September 1983, President LI was that of ZHU Jianhua朱建华, who LUAN Jujie 栾菊杰 became the wom- Xiannian 李先念 lit the torch for the broke the high-jump world record at Revitalizing China Torch Relay for 2.38 meters. XU Haifeng 许海峰 won 中 en’s foil champion with victories in all five outings and was the outstanding the games. On 15 September, Deng two silver medals in the men’s free 国 female athlete at the games. Before the Xiaoping provided the games with pistol and air pistol competitions. He games in 1978, she had competed at the instruction: “Improve the Com- later became China’s first Olympic gold 全 the Youth Fencing Championships in petition Standard, Win Glory for the medalist at the Los Angeles Olympic Country.” 提高水平, 为国争光 Interna- Games in 1984. 运 Madrid, Spain, and had won the silver medal to become the first 会 Asian woman to step into the ● ● ● ● ● upper echelons of world fencing. She was regarded as the top foil in Asia. 22 Fifth National Games, 1983 In 1983 the Fifth National Games were held in Shanghai, the first time that the games had been held outside Bei- jing. Guided by the policy of

The opening ceremonies of the 2005 Chinese National Games.

Part One The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games The first commercial donation, 113,600 Renminbi (RMB) (US$14,000), was Statistical Snapshot of China China’s N ational Games made to these games, accounting for 1.16 percent of the total budget. Capital Beijing Government type Communist state Sixth National Area 9,596,960 sq km; slightly smaller than the US Games, 1987 Population 1,321,851,888 (July 2007 est.) The Sixth National Games took place Population below poverty line 8% (2006 est.) Infant mortality rate male: 20.1 deaths/1,000 live births in Guangdong in 1987 as 7,518 athletes female: 24.47 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) participated in forty-four competition Life expectancy at birth male: 71.13 years sports and three performance sports. female: 74.82 years (2007 est.) The Guangdong provincial sports Unemployment rate 4% (2007 est.) commission and the organizing com- Literacy male: 95.1% female: 86.5% (2000 census) mittee made these games an artistic Internet users; % of population 162 million (2007); 12% 中 and cultural event as well as a sports Languages Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the competition, as evidenced by opening Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei 国 show (“Soaring Aspirations” 凌云志) (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka the China Olympic Philately Exhibition, dialects, minority languages 全 and the adoption of the concept of a mascot and emblem for the games. The 运 emblem represented the ambition and Seventh National 马俊仁, strict discipline) broke the 会 energy of the city (Guangzhou) in the Games, 1993 1,500-meter, 3,000-meter, and 10,000- ● ● ● ● ● forefront of reform and opening up of The Seventh National Games were co- meter world records. These games the new China. hosted by Beijing and Sichuan Province helped accelerate the momentum of Chinese athletes broke fifteen world in 1993. There were forty-three compe- China’s reform and opening up and 23 records and equaled four others. They tition sports at the games. Twenty-six also encouraged the Chinese people also broke forty-eight Asian and eighty- competitions took place in Beijing and to support the bid for the Olympic two national records. The Guangxi pro- fifteen in Sichuan. However, sailboat Games. The Seventh National Games vincial delegation featured the games’ and sailboard events took place in also took place shortly before the outcome of China’s Olympic bid was stars: HE Zhuoqiang 何灼强 who broke Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province. More the snatch and total world records in than ten thousand athletes in forty-five announced and were staged as a show- the 50-kilogram class weight lifting, delegations from all over China took case of China’s capability to host the Olympic Games. HE Yingqiang 何英强, who broke the part. The new Chinese president, JIANG snatch world record in the 56-kilogram Zemin 江泽民, opened the games. Eighth National class weight lifting, and LIN Ning 李宁, The games saw 4 world records bro- Games, 1997 the “Prince of Gymnastics,” 体操王子 ken, 3 world records equaled, and 34 who made his last National Games Asian records and 117 national records The Eighth National Games were held appearance. broken. The Liaoning middle-distance in Shanghai in 1997. These were the running team, “Ma’s Army” 马家军, largest national sports event in China (named for their coach, MA Junren’s with 319 events in twenty-eight sports.

奥运会、亚运会、全运会 China’s N ational Games

中国全运

会 Liu Xiang leads the ● ● ● ● ● Shanghai delegation to the 2005 Chinese National Games. 24 More than seven thousand athletes Chinese athletes broke forty-one world National Games, women weight lifters representing forty-six delegations took records, equaled three other world re- broke most of the world records and part. Hong Kong sent a delegation for cords, and broke fifty-five Asian records even a few Chinese records! (Some the first time after it had become a and sixty-six national records. The Chinese records were higher than the special administration region. Presi- stars were female athletes from Liaon- world records, and some of the Chinese dent Jiang Zemin and IOC president ing Province: JIANG Bo 姜波 broke the records were later recognized as world Juan Antonio Samaranch attended the women’s 5,000-meter world record; in records.) opening ceremony. A cultural gala en- swimming CHEN Yan 陈妍 broke the During these games seven sports titled the “Era of Progress” highlighted women’s 400-meter individual med- cultural exhibitions were held. Sports the commitment of the Chinese people ley relay world record. Female athletes cultural exhibitions on such a large to realize the goal of national rejuve- also performed well in weight lifting. scale were unprecedented. In particu- nation through peaceful development When the Eighth National Games were lar the China Sports Art Exhibition with high spirit and passion in the held, women’s weight lifting had al- was held at the Shanghai Museum. The new era. ready been listed in the program of the 497 exhibits there were selected from 2000 Sydney Olympics. At the Chinese

Part One The Olympic Games, the Asian Games, and China’s National Games ten thousand from all over China. IOC more than the total at the seventh for the Olympic Games can be evalu- president Samaranch selected eighteen and eighth games together. A blood ated through this Games so that the China’s N ational Games exhibits to be included in the collec- test also was used for the first time. It preparation for the Olympic Games tion of the IOC. exposed eight violators, who were pe- could be done better.” The setup of the nalized. One athlete who did not take events of the tenth games conformed Ninth National the test on time was disqualified. Six with that of Olympic events. One sport Games, 2001 athletes who had excessive amounts of and twelve events were added. Most At the Ninth National Games, held in the hormone erythropoietin (EPO) in athletes who had participated in the Guangdong in 2001, more than twelve their bodies withdrew from the games. Athens Olympic Games in 2004 partici- thousand athletes from forty-five del- pated in the tenth games. egations participated in 30 major and Tenth National At these games China’s three tra- 345 minor events. The Macao Special Games, 2005 ditional sports powers — Beijing, Administration Region was represented The Tenth National Games were held Shanghai, and Guangdong — did not for the first time. President Jiang Ze- in Jiangsu Province in 2005. This dominate the events. The games saw min and new IOC president Jacques marked the first time in the history of a more even distribution of medals 中 Rogge were present at the opening the games that the hosting venue was among eight other delegations, mark- 国 ceremony. Competition was on a world- determined by bidding. The sacred fire ing the overall improvement of the class level in China’s strong Olympic of the tenth games was composed of level of competitive sports in the coun- 全 sports, such as gymnastics, shooting, the Flame of Scientific Advancement, try. Six world records were broken. LIU weight lifting, badminton, table tennis, the Flame of Chinese Civilization, and Xiang 刘翔 was the star of the games, 运 and diving. Most impressive were the the Flame of China’s Renaissance. The partially because he had tied the world 会 women weight lifters. They broke six “Millions with But One Heart” 我们万 record in the men’s 110-meter hurdles ● ● ● ● ● world records. The shooters, including 众一心 torch relay further raised aware- at the Athens Olympics. men’s and women’s air rifle, men’s and ness of nationwide fitness. Almost ten The National Games show the unity of women’s 10-meter running target, and thousand athletes competed in 357 China; they also are a window through 25 women’s sports pistol, also gave world- events in thirty-two sports. which to view China’s economic and class performances. Unlike past National Games, the tenth sporting progress and a training Anti-doping enforcement at these games played a special role: a re- ground to prepare Chinese athletes for games was the most stringent in the hearsal for the Beijing Olympic Games international competition. history of the National Games. A in 2008. As China’s president HU Jintao n LUO Shiming 罗时铭 and CAO Shouhe 曹守和 total of 1,349 tests were conducted, 胡锦涛 stated: “I hope the preparation

奥运会、亚运会、全运会

P art T wo

Olympic Sports 奥运体育

hina is known for its successes at table tennis, diving, and gymnastics, and it has been particularly successful in C badminton, weight lifting, and shooting. Beyond these key sports, much effort has been made in recent years to develop boxing, tennis, baseball, canoeing and kayaking, and athletics — there’s even considerable effort going into the development of cricket, a sport of mind-boggling importance in India and other British Commonwealth countries, many of which have close economic ties with China. The next chapters take an in-depth look at several of China’s most popular sports, their origins and cultural significance, and provide insight into Chinese history; they look as well at some of today’s top athletes. Sports that are not covered in separate chapters are nonetheless mentioned in sidebars and tables. China’s first gold medalist, for example, was sharpshooter XU Haifeng, and his story has been told in a sidebar on page 3. the Isthmian, Nemean, Roman, and Py- professional Golden League circuit, Athletics thian Games, collectively known as the culminating with the IAAF World Athletics Panhellenic Games. Athletics Final, as well as indoor The earliest recorded athletic meet- championship meets, such as the 中 ing of the modern era was organized World Indoor Championships. at Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, by the Royal Shrewsbury School Hunt. Modern Athletics In 1896 athletics was an official men’s Comes to China event in the first modern Olympic In the late nineteenth century, West- 国 Games. But it was not until 1928 that ern missionaries introduced modern women were allowed to participate in athletics to China and started to orga- track-and-field events in the Olympic nize athletic meetings at missionary Games. schools and colleges. In 1890 China’s The athletics events in the modern first modern athletic meet was held 金田径 Olympic Games can be divided into at St. John’s College in Shanghai. A four areas: track, field, road, and com- few years later, athletic sports such as bined events (see table 1). race walking, running, jumping, and throwing were introduced to Chinese Athletics, also known as track and The International Association of schools in big cities. Some schools in 田 field, is probably the most basic and Athletics Federations (IAAF) was Tianjin held athletic meetings in 1902. universal of physical competitions. The founded in 1912. The IAAF established The initial National Athletics Meeting 径 name of the sport originated from the ● ● separate outdoor World Champion- took place in Nanjing, the capital of the Greek word athlon, meaning “contest,” ships in 1983. There are a number of republic, in 1907, and more than eighty and it describes a collection of sports regional games as well, such as the schools participated. 28 that include running, throwing, and European Championships, the Pan jumping events. American Games, and the Common- After the establishment of the People’s wealth Games. In addition there is a Republic of China in 1949, the central In ancient China, as elsewhere around government considered athletics as the world, athletics were often related to military training. During the Spring and Autumn period 春秋 (770–476 Table 1 n Track and Field Events in the Olympic Games bce), soldiers would be trained in run- Area Events ning, leaping and wrestling, riding, Track events Sprints (100m, 200m, 400m) jousting, and the use of weapons. It’s Middle-distance running (800m, 1,500m) no surprise that the first athletic event Long-distance running (5,000m, 10,000m) in the ancient Olympics was a foot Hurdling (100m and 400m for women, 110m and 400m for men) Relays (4x100m and 4x400m) race known as the stade. The earliest 3,000m steeplechase records of this event can be dated back Field events Long jump, triple jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put, discus, to 776 bce. Events such as longer foot javelin, and hammer throw (for both men and women) races, a race in armor, and the pen- Road events Men’s and women’s marathons tathlon (consisting of the stade, long Men’s 20km and 50km race walking jump, discus throw, javelin throw, and Women’s 10km race walking wrestling) were also included in the Combined events Heptathlon for women ancient Olympic Games, as well as in Decathlon for men

Part T wo Olympic Sports a valuable sport for the nation and Table 2 n Chinese Olympic Medals, 1984–2004 Athletics started to promote it. Beginning in Year lOCATION Medals Athlete Event 1953 China has held the National Ath- 1984 Los Angeles Bronze Zhu Jianhua Men’s high jump letics Meeting each year. 1988 Seoul Bronze Li Sumei Women’s shot put The government’s support of athlet- 1992 Barcelona Gold Chen Yueling Women’s 10,000m race walking ics was rewarded when ZHENG Fen- 1992 Barcelona Silver Huang Zhihong Women’s shot put grong 郑凤荣, a female athlete from 1992 Barcelona Bronze Li Chunxiu Women’s 10,000m 1992 Barcelona Bronze Qu Yunxia Women’s 1,500m Shandong Province, was crowned the 1996 Atlanta Gold Wang Junxia Women’s 5,000m champion in women’s high jump at the 1996 Atlanta Silver Wang Junxia Women’s 10,000m International Athletics Championship 1996 Atlanta Silver Sui Xinmei Women’s shot put in Berlin in 1957. In the same year, she 1996 Atlanta Bronze Wang Yan Women’s 10km race walking set a new world record for the women’s 2000 Sydney Gold Wang Liping Women’s 20km race walking high jump with a leap of 1.77 meters 2004 Athens Gold Liu Xiang Men’s 110m hurdles at the Beijing Athletic Meeting. This 2004 Athens Gold Xiang Huina Women’s 1,0000m victory made her the first Asian athlete to break an athletic world record since 1984, with jumps of 2.37, 2.38, and 2.39 JIANG Bo 姜波 set a new world record 1936. meters. XU Yongjiu 徐永久 and YAN in the women’s 5,000 meters. In 2001 In the 1960s athletes in Taiwan per- Hong 阎红 were crowned champions in HUANG Yanmei 董艳梅 ranked fourth formed very impressively on the inter- 10-kilometer race walking in 1983 and in the women’s 5000 meters at the 田 national stage. For example, in 1960 1985. HUANG Zhihong 黄志宏 won the IAAF World Championships in Canada. YANG Chuanguang 杨传广 from Tai- women’s shot put world championship GAO Shuying ranked fifth in the 径

高淑英 ● ● wan Province won a silver medal in the in 1989. Chinese athletes won twenty- women’s pole vault. men’s decathlon at the Seventeenth nine (men 11, women 18) gold medals The most distinguished victory for the Olympic Games in Rome. In 1963 the at the Eleventh Asian Games held in Chinese was LIU Xiang’s 刘翔 gold records of more than fifty Chinese 29 Beijing in 1990. Their brilliant victory medal in men’s 110-meter hurdles at athletes met the entrance require- demonstrated China’s dominance in the Athens Olympic Game in 2004. His ments for the Tokyo Olympic Games athletics in Asia at the time. brilliant victory made him the first Chi- (held in 1964). In 1968 JI Zheng 纪政 Chinese athletes also achieved victo- nese male athlete to win a gold medal from Taiwan won a bronze medal in the ries at the Olympic Games and world in a men’s track-and-field event at the women’s 80-meter hurdles at the Nine- championships. In 1988 LI Sumei 李 Olympic Games. It broke the myth that teenth Olympics in Mexico City. In 1969 素梅 won the bronze medal of the “yellow-skin people could not jump and 1970, at the international athletic women’s shot put with a record of 21.06 and run fast.” It also made him a hero matches held in Munich, she also broke meters at the Twenty-fourth Olym- in China and throughout Asia. the world records of the 100-meters, pic Games in Seoul. In 1991 HUANG 200-meters, 100-meter women’s hur- From 1984 to 2004 China participated Zhihong 黄志红 and XU Demei 徐德妹 dles, and 200-meter women’s hurdles. in six Olympic Games. Table 2 shows won the gold medals in the women’s China’s progress in the medal count. In the 1980s, when China opened up shot put and javelin throw respectively to the outside world, Chinese ath- at the Third IAAF World Champion- In twenty-first-century China, new letes began to appear on the interna- ships. In 1992 CHEN Yueling 陈跃玲 training bases have been built to meet tional sports stage. ZHU Jianhua 朱 won the gold medal in women’s 10- the needs of athletes and coaches. For 建华 broke the world record for the kilometer race walking at the Twenty- example, a new training facility lo- high jump three times in 1983 and fifth Olympics in Barcelona. In 1993 cated at Shangrila Mountain in Yunan

奥运体育 Province was established in 2007. The In addition, China has sent dozens of 2007. All the costs for such training are Athletics altitude of this training base is above athletes abroad for advanced train- covered by the government. The Gen- 3,200 meters. Altitude-training pro- ing programs. For example, China sent eral Administration of Sport of China grams for the Chinese national race- eight elite athletes to the United States has spent more than 500 billion RMB walking team will be carried out there. for a five-month training program in on training programs for elite athletes.

Eyes on Beijing 2008 The starting point of the 2008 Olym- pic marathon event is at Tiananmen Square with the race finishing in the National Stadium. The start/finish point of the race-walking event is also the National Stadium. The race will be a round trip on a 2-kilometer course at the boulevard on the Olympic Green. Eleven hundred male athletes and nine hundred female athletes will participate in the athletic events of the Bei- jing Olympic Games and forty-seven 田 sets of medals will be awarded. 径 Traditionally, the United States has ● ● dominated the men’s and women’s 100 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters. For the men’s 100 meters, Tyson Gay 30 from the United States and Asafa Pow- ell from Jamaica are the most capable competitors. For the women’s 100 meters, Allyson Felix from the United States may win the gold medal. For the men’s 110-meter hurdles, the war for the gold medal may break out between Liu Xiang from China, Terrence Tram- mell from the United States, and Day- ron Robles from Cuba. For the long-distance events, the dominance of Ethiopia and Kenya seems Racewalking is a unchallengeable. Tirunesh Dibaba, complex Olympic the current world record holder of sport that was women’s 5,000 meters from Ethiopia hugely popular in Victorian Europe will be the most capable competitor in and is increasing that event. For the women’s marathon, in popularity ZHOU Chunxiu , the cham- in China. 周春秀

Part T wo Olympic Sports pion of the London Marathon in 2007, will face strong opponents from Kenya The First China-born Olympic Medalist Athletics and Japan. For the men’s walking race, twenty-eight-year-old HAN Yucheng 韩 ric Liddell, the runner portrayed in contest. He not only won the race but set a 玉成 from China is a capable competi- EChariots of Fire who refused for religious new world record, and became a symbol of tor for a medal. reasons to run on a Sunday, was the first personal faith as well as athletic brilliance. Olympic gold medalist born in China. Returning to China, he became a coach China’s Athletes Liddell, known in China as Lee Airui, was at the Xinxue School in Tianjin, a mission in the Lead the son of Scottish missionaries and grew school that is now Tianjin’s Middle School WANG Junxia 王军霞 (b. 1973) has up in Tianjin, a city southwest of Beijing. #17. During World War II he was imprisoned been regarded as one of the best long- At the 1924 Olympics in Paris, Liddell, a by the Japanese in North China. He died distance runners in China’s sports devout Christian, found himself unable to there, in the land where he was born, and participate in the preliminary heats for his today a plaque in Tianjin commemorates history. In 1992 Wang won the world own event, the 100-meter race. Instead, he the home of Lee Airui, China’s first Olympic junior champion in the 10,000 meters made a last minute switch to the 400-meter medalist. (32:29.90) in Seoul. In 1993 she won the title in the women’s 10,000 meters at the Stuttgart World Championships. In 1994 she was awarded the presti- fourth in the 110-meter hurdles. In 2002 2006, at the IAAF Super Grand Prix in gious Jesse Owens Prize. She was the he won a silver medal in Lausanne Lausanne, he set the men’s 110-meter first and only Asian woman to win in the 110-meter hurdles at the IAAF hurdles world record at 12.88 sec- 田 Grand Prix. In 2003 he won a bronze onds. Liu is the first Chinese athlete to that prize. She won the gold medal in 径 the women’s 5,000 meters and a silver medal in 110-meter hurdles at the achieve the “triple crown” of athletics: ● ● medal in the 10,000 meters (31:02.58) IAAF World Championships in Paris. world record holder, world champion, at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996. In 2004 at the Athens Olympic Games, and Olympic champion. Liu Xiang won the gold medal in the LIU Xiang (b.1983) 刘翔 is the most n CHANG Sheng 常生 and 31 same event. This brilliant victory made LU Zhouxiang 吕洲翔 outstanding 110-meter hurdler in him the first Chinese male athlete to China. Liu participated in the world ju- earn a gold medal in a men’s track-and- nior championships in 2000 and ranked field event at the Olympic Games. In

奥运体育 A net was introduced, and the game ficial all-England matches took place. Badminton became a competitive sport called Badminton’s popularity in Britain grew Badminton poona. By the 1860s some British army so fast that by 1920 there were nearly officers had learned the sport in India three hundred badminton clubs; the 中 and took it back to England. Years number had reached five hundred by later, the game was played among the 1930. upper class in England. In 1873, guests Badminton quickly spread from Eng- of the Duke of Beaufort played the land to the United States, Canada, game at his country place, Badminton Australia, and New Zealand and made 国 House in Gloucestershire, and it thus big strides in Europe. At the 1972 became known as “the badminton Olympics, badminton was staged as game” among guests, who introduced a demonstration sport event. In 1992 it to other friends. In 1877 the Bath the game became an official Olympic Badminton Club was established and sport at Barcelona, Spain, with singles 金羽毛球 developed the first official set of rules, and doubles competitions for men and which was similar to the modern rules women. After its appearance there, the for the game. game became more and more popular 羽 In 1899 the first all-England champi- around the world. Badminton, like many other onship for men was held, and in 1900 racket sports, has a long history. In In 1948 the first world-class tourna- 毛 came the pioneer tournament for the fifth century bce, Chinese started ment, the Thomas Cup (world men’s women. However, these tournaments 球 to play a ball game called ti jian, team championships), was held in

● ● ● 踢毽 were regarded as “unofficial,” and it which can be translated as “shuttle Scotland. Malaysia won the title and was not until 1904 that the first of- kick.” As the name suggests, the object became the first country to inscribe its 32 of the game was for players to keep a shuttle from hitting the ground without using their hands. Regardless of whether ti jian had anything to do with badminton, it was the first sport to use a shuttle. Centuries later, a ball game named “battledore and shuttlecock” was played in India, Siam (Thailand), and Japan. In that game people use a battledore (paddle) to hit the shuttlecock (a small feathered ball) back and forth.

A coach trains young students in the intricacies of badminton.

Part T wo Olympic Sports name on the Thomas Cup. International tournaments Badminton include the Surdiman Cup, the Uber Cup, and the World Individual Champion- ships. After all these years, badminton is neither so different from its Indian prede- cessor nor the game played by the European elite society in the mid-1800s except for the speed and technique of the sport. Hospital workers in Badminton Beijing play a Introduced in China casual game of badminton Badminton was introduced during their to China by the British in lunch hour. 羽 the late nineteenth century. 毛 In 1910 staff and students in offered a chance for Chinese to study with a brilliant victory against Indone- YMCAs and schools in big cities such and learn advanced techniques from sia; the score was 5–4. In 1986 China 球 as Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjing, and their opponents. When the Chinese won both the Thomas Cup and the ● ● ● Chengdu started to play the game. In team beat Denmark and Sweden in Uber Cup in Djakarta, Indonesia. These 1931 the first Chinese badminton team friendship matches in 1965 and 1964, two victories shocked the sports world. was established. In 1932 the first China it marked another turning point in the The following year, Chinese players 33 Open was held in the city of Tianjin. team’s growing mastery. won all the gold medals at the Fifth In 1945 the first badminton associa- When China’s Cultural Revolution Individual World Badminton Champion tion in China, the Shanghai Badmin- (1966–1976) began, badminton teams in Beijing. By then China had become ton Association, was established. In were disbanded in each city and prov- the only country that held all seven the same year, this association orga- ince. It was not until 1971 that the world titles (men’s and women’s team nized the first Shanghai Championship national badminton team was reor- and five singles sets). This record was Tournament. ganized by the central government. In unprecedented. During the 1950s badminton became 1974 the first Youth Badminton Na- However, when badminton became an more popular in big cities. In 1954 tional Championships took place in official Olympic sport at Barcelona in several overseas Chinese coaches from Kun Ming and twenty-one provincial 1992, none of the seven gold medals Indonesia came back to China and pro- badminton teams participated in the was won by China. In the 1990s Indo- moted the game in terms of tactics and matches. These championships have nesia and Malaysia recaptured all the training techniques. In 1963 and 1964, been held each year since 1974 with world titles from China. the Indonesia Badminton National the goal of discovering talented young The 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta Team visited China and competed athletes. saw Chinese badminton reach an- with China’s national team. Competi- In 1982 China won the men’s team other milestone, when GE Fei 葛菲 tions between the two national teams championship title at the Thomas Cup and GU Jun 顾俊 took the gold for the

奥运体育 (BWF), the positions of Chinese Badminton shuttlers in the world rankings remain unchallenged; it will be possible for this formidable team to win all five gold medals at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (see table 2).

Table 2 n Badminton World Federation World Ranking (2007)

World Rank Nation Name Points

n Men’s Singles 1 China Lin Dan 78,161 2 China Chen Jin 61,111 3 China Chen Yu 59,020 4 China Chen Hong 57,871 5 China Bao Chunlai 55,991

n Women’s Singles 羽 1 China Xie Xingfang 70,701 毛 2 China Zhang Ning 69,821 3 China Zhu Lin 57,261 球 4 Germany Xu Huaiwen 54,910 ● ● ● 5 China Lu Lan 53,821

Yang Yang, n Men’s Doubles the 1987 Male 1 China Fu Haifeng 71,631 34 Badminton Cai Yun Champion. 2 Korea Jung Jae Sung 55,460 Lee Yong Dae 3 Indonesia Wijaya, Candra 55,430 women’s team and DONG Jong 董炯 man Cup in 1995 (Lausanne), 1997 Gunawan, Tony was awarded the gold for men’s singles (Glasgow), and 1999 (Copenhagen). n Women’s Doubles (see table 1). Two years later, in 1998, Chinese athletes have dominated 1 China Zhang Yawen 70,221 China recaptured the Uber Cup from badminton for a decade, but the sport Wei Yili its South Asian competitors at Hong is developing strongly in Indonesia, 2 China Gao Ling 64,271 Huang Sui Kong. Chinese also had won the Surdi- Malaysia, South Korea, Britain, and 3 China Yang Wei 63,891 some Scandinavian countries. Zhang Jiewen

n Mixed Doubles Table 1 n China’s Olympic Medal Tally Olympic Leaders (1992–2004) 1 China Xie Zhongbo 59,701 Zhang Yawen Year Host City Gold Silver Bronze Five sets of medals will be awarded at the Beijing Olympics: men’s and 2 Thailand Prapakamol, Sudket 59,341 1992 Barcelona 0 (out of 4) 0 5 Thoungthongkam, 1996 Atlanta 2 (out of 4) 1 2 women’s singles, men’s and women’s Saralee 2000 Sydney 4 (out of 5) 1 3 doubles, and mixed doubles. 3 Indonesia Widianto, Nova 55,581 2004 Athens 3 (out of 5) 1 1 According to information released by Natsir, Lilyana Source: International Olympic Committee’s website. the Badminton World Federation Source: Badminton World Federation website.

Part T wo Olympic Sports In men’s singles Chinese player LIN Table 3 n Favorite Gold Medal Competitors in 2008 Badminton Dan 林丹 and Taufik Hidayat from Event Men Women Indonesia are the favorites for the gold Singles Hidayat, Taufik (Indonesia) Zhan Ning (China) medal. Lin Dan, “China’s Super Dan” 超 Lin Dan (China) Xie Xingfang (China) 级丹 (b. 1983), is China’s top seed in Bao Chunlai (China) 2008. Since 2004 he has been ranked Doubles Fu Haifeng, Cai Yun (China) Gao Lin, Huan Hui (China) Yang Wei, Zhang Jiewen (China) number one in the world. In 2006 Lin Wei Yili, Zhang Yawen (China) won against his teammate BAO Mixed Doubles Xie Zhongbo, Zhang Yawen (China) Chunlai 鲍春来 in the finals of the Widianto Nova, Natsir Lilyana (Indonesia) World Badminton Championships held Lee Kyung Won, Lee Hyo Jung (Thailand) in Madrid, Spain. He also won the gold medal at the 2007 World Champion- achievement shocked the badminton Chinese badminton players.. In 1986 ships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Taufik world, and soon he was recognized as he recovered from a lung disease that Hidayat (b. 1981) is a former world one of the four “Heavenly Kings” (so had forced him to rest for one year. champion and the 2004 Olympic named because they were the top four And he soon won the Malaysia Open, champion in the men’s singles. He is the only first-rung player who retains the fifteen-point style of play in the 羽 revised twenty-one-point system. Hidayat is known for his relaxed, 毛 smooth playing style and is one of the 球 best all-around players in the world. He ● ● ● is perhaps the world’s most spontane- ously innovative badminton singles player today. To date, no competitors 35 are strong enough to challenge the domination of China (see table 3).

Leading Athletes and Coaches ZHAO Jianhua 赵剑华 (b. 1965) is 1.83 meters tall and left-handed. He entered a sports school at the age of twelve and was selected for the Jiangsu badminton team (provincial level) at the age of thirteen. Jianhua joined the Chinese national team at the age of eighteen in 1983. One year later, he defeated Morten Frost and won the Scot- land Open. This was the first time he was noticed on the international stage. Li Lingwei, the 1987 Female In 1985 Jianhua defeated four world- Badminton class players within three months. This Champion.

奥运体育 China Open, and Thailand Open. He ZHANG Ning 张宁 (b. 1975) won the and 1987 Badminton World Cup and Badminton won the 1987 Badminton World Cup, gold medal for China in the women’s the 1984, 1986, and 1988 Uber Cup. She 1988 Thomas Cup, 1990 Thomas Cup, singles at the 2004 Summer Olympic dominated world badminton during 1991 All-England World Championship, Games. She also won the 2003 World the 1980s and was unquestionably the and 1991 World Badminton GP Finals Badminton Championships (women’s most outstanding female badminton Championship. In 1994 Jianhua retired singles) in Birmingham, England. By player in China. Li Lingwei retired in from the national team and entered a 2007 she was at the top of women’s 1989 and became a coach of the Chi- management college in Singapore to world rankings and was targeting nese national badminton team in 1995. study economics. Now he works as an the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic TANG Xianhu 汤仙虎 (b. 1941) was image ambassador for a sports brand Games. born in Indonesia and lived there for in China. Lin Dan 林丹 (b. 1983), “China’s Super many years. Xianhu came back to YANG Yang 杨阳 (b. 1963) is the only Dan,” is China’s top seed in 2008. Since China in the late 1960s and brought badminton player in the world who 2004 he has been ranked number one advanced badminton techniques to has won consecutive World Badminton in the world. In 2006 Lin won against China and developed his own style. In Championships men’s singles titles. his teammate Bao Chunlai in the finals 1978 Tang Xianhu won the gold medal He played a major role in China’s early of the World Badminton Champion- in the mixed doubles at the Bangkok win of the coveted Thomas Cup and ships held in Madrid, Spain. He also Asian Games. Tang Xianhu is consid- 羽 belonged to China’s golden generation won the gold medal at the 2007 World ered a pioneer of Chinese badminton. of badminton players of the 1980s. As a Championships in Kuala Lumpur, He is also the most successful bad- 毛 member of that generation, Yang Yang Malaysia. minton coach in China, and is today 球 played an important role in making LI Lingwei 李玲蔚 (b. 1964), the “Bad- responsible for the national badminton ● ● ● China a world badminton superpower. minton Queen” 羽毛球皇后 of China, team and in charge of the men’s mixed Players of his generation set the foun- was the champion at the 1983 and doubles team. dation for current Chinese world-class 1989 World Badminton Champion- n FAN Wei 樊维 and LU Zhouxiang 吕洲翔 36 badminton players. ships. She won the 1984, 1985, 1986,

Part T wo Olympic Sports on a professional basketball court, the 1936 Berlin Olympics, when basketball fee for broadcasting NBA games has made its debut as an official Olympic Basketball Basketball increased tenfold. Chinese school- event. children who idolize Jordan proudly The U.S. team dominated Olympic bas- 中 choose his name as their “English ketball for a half century before it failed name.” to win the gold medal for the first time Basketball at first was called “Nai- at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South smith ball.” However, because points Korea. That failure eventually led to a were scored by shooting soccer balls rule change that allowed professional 国 into a fruit basket, the sport became players to play in Olympic basketball known as “basketball” and soon be- games. At the 1992 Barcelona Olym- came popular throughout the United pics, a team consisting primarily of States. Today, although fruit baskets, NBA stars, headed by Michael Jordan soccer balls, and nine players per team and Magic Johnson, took part in the 金篮球 have long since disappeared , some of Olympics for the first time and won the the original rules — such as the rule title of “Dream Team” with its excellent setting the height of baskets at 3.05 performance. However, the progress of meters — still remain as Naismith European basketball teams, especially Basketball was introduced to conceived them. the Croatian, Yugoslavian, and Lithu- China in 1895, just four years after anian teams, brought great changes in 篮 James Naismith, secretary and physi- In 1895 basketball appeared as a com- the 1990s as more European basketball cal education instructor of the Young petitive sport in U.S. colleges. In 1898 球 players went on to star in the NBA. At ● ● Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) the first professional basketball league the 2004 Athens Olympics, the U.S. in Springfield, Massachusetts, nailed a was formed. Beginning with the 1904 team failed to win the gold medal for a fruit basket to a wall at Springfield Col- St. Louis Olympic Games, basketball second time. 37 lege (then the YMCA training school). was played as a display sport until the Naismith probably never imagined that his invention — basketball — would have such an impact on the world of sports. Today, the teams and players of the National Basketball As- sociation (NBA) have won the hearts of many basketball fans throughout the world with their performances. The Dow Jones stock index rose when Michael Jordan returned to the NBA in 1995. And since Jordan first set foot

Basketball has exploded in popularity in recent years amongst Chinese youth.

奥运体育 Basketball in China Manila, Philippines. In 1936 China com- nese women’s basketball team finished Basketball After the sport was introduced to peted for the first time in the Eleventh third at the 1983 World Championship. China in at the Tianjin Zhonghua YMCA Olympic Games in Berlin. The Chinese Basketball Association in 1895, basketball spread to YMCAs The Chinese men’s basketball team (CBA) was established in 1995. During in Beijing, Shanghai, and other cities. began to dominate the sport in Asia the past ten years, the CBA has pro- In 1913 China sent a team made up of during the 1970s and 1980s. The team duced many basketball stars. WANG students from Shanghai, Nanjing, and swept five Asian Championship titles in Zhizhi 王治郅 joined the NBA in 2001. other major cities, to participate in the succession from 1975 to 1983. The Chi- Later YAO Ming 姚明, the league’s first Far East Championship Games in most famous star, joined the Houston Rockets in 2002. Both players led Chi- nese basketball players onto the international professional basketball stage. The YMCA Brings Modern Sports to China The popularization of basketball in China has been promoted aggressively odern sports came to China toward all of China, those few were amazingly by the CBA. Basketball has never been the end of the nineteenth century. influential as coordinators of programs in M more popular than it is today: Much- Britons resident in the “Middle Kingdom” Chinese and mission schools, as promot- established football clubs in Tientsin (1884) ers of athletic meets, as trainers of native favored three-men street basketball, and Shanghai (1887), but Americans, espe- sports administrators, and as propagandists campus basketball, and the Chinese 篮 cially those working under the auspices of for increased support of physical-education University Basketball Association the YMCA, were far more important players programs. Basketball was, as those familiar (CUBA), which has up to seven hun- 球 in the game of ludic diffusion. In its early with the game’s origins might have guessed, dred teams, are all in full swing. ● ● years, Chinese basketball was nurtured the YMCA’s favored sport. Dr. Lyon had The Chinese men’s national basketball almost exclusively by the YMCA. Dr. Willard introduced it in Tientsin, but the most en- team, headed by Yao Ming, defeated Lyon, who opened the Tientsin YMCA in ergetic promoters of the game were located a strong European opponent, the Ser- 38 1895, was a typical activist. He was not con- in Shanghai, where Dr. Max J. Exner arrived tent to limit his attention to the young Chi- in 1908 as the Chinese YMCA’s first National bian team, and made its way into the nese who frequented the YMCA. “As early as Physical Director. top eight in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. 1896,” wrote Jonathan Kolatch, “the Tientsin When the YMCA organized China’s first na- YMCA embarked on a program of promoting tional athletic meet, at Nanking in October athletic competition in [Chinese] schools.” of 1910, basketball was part of the program Famous Coaches In 1902, when C. H. Robertson arrived to (along with track and field, tennis, and soc- and Players assume responsibilities in Tientsin, he cer). Although the officials were Americans, David Willard Lyon was born into a followed Lyon’s path and spent part of his all the athletes on the one hundred forty Christian missionary family in Hang- time in the local Chinese schools. He also competing teams were Chinese. A symbolic arranged for an American teacher of physi- zhong in southern China and received moment occurred during the meet when his education in the United States. Af- cal education to be employed, at YMCA high-jumper SUN Baoqing snipped off the ter graduation from College of Wooster expense, in the school system. To stimu- queue of hair that had knocked the crossbar late interest on the part of the Chinese, the from its support and made his first attempt in Ohio, he was sent to work in China Americans resident in Tientsin organized a failure. He tried again, shorn, and became in 1895 by the Foreign Department of an annual athletic meet for students at the the national champion. the International Committee of the local schools. n Allen Guttmann YMCA of North America. He and his Although the YMCA never had more than wife arrived in Tianjin on 17 November. fifteen or twenty “physical secretaries” for On 8 December Lyon played a “basket and ball game” during his lecture

Part T wo Olympic Sports Basketball

篮球 ● ●

A young basketball player in Beijing goes for a lay up shot. 39 at Beiyang Medical School. In March sachusetts. After his return to China in Yao Ming 姚明 may be the most 1896 he organized the first basketball July 1925, he coached the men’s basket- outstanding player in the history of game at the Tianjin YMCA. Thus, Tian- ball teams of Tianjin Nankai University Chinese basketball. Born in Shang- jin became the birthplace of Chinese and Beijing Normal University. The Chi- hai in 1980, Yao Ming received his basketball. nese men’s national basketball team first basketball as a gift on his fourth DONG Shouyi 董守义 is known as the consisted mainly of members of these birthday from his parents, who were “father of Chinese basketball” 中国篮 two teams. Between 1936 and 1952, both basketball players. He joined the 球之父. After graduation from Beijing he took part in the Olympic Games Chinese national team at age eighteen Tongzhou Xiehe College (later merged three times as a coach and as the head and led the team to the Asian Champi- into Beijing University) in 1916, he coach of the Chinese team. Between onship title many times. In June 2002, became sports secretary of the Tianjin the 1920s and 1960s, he coached a as the NBA’s number one draft pick, YMCA. He participated in the Far East number of basketball stars and other Yao Ming signed a three-year contract Championship Games several times coaches in China. He was a member of worth $10.8 million with the Houston as a member and later captain of the the International Olympic Committee Rockets. Soon, Yao Ming attracted pub- Chinese basketball team. In 1923 he between 1947 and 1958. lic attention in the United States and studied at Springfield College in Mas- throughout all of Asia. Some people

奥运体育 Basketball Baseball in China

apan may be considered Asia’s premier late 1920s and 1930s when China was ruled rialism. During the height of anti-Western Jbaseball nation, but China was the first by CHIANG Kai-shek and the Guomindang. Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), former Asian country where baseball (bangqiu) was Then the Shanghai Pandas were China’s coaches and players were often targeted for introduced. In 1863 the Shanghai Baseball most powerful team. The popular team was abuse. Chinese were forced to hide gloves, Club was established by American medical founded by LIANG Fuchu, the “grandfather bats, and other equipment for fear of attack missionary Henry William Boone. Boone, of Chinese baseball,” who learned to play by overzealous Red Guards. born in Java, spent his early years in China. baseball while studying in Japan. In 1934 With the opening of China and the coming As a teenager he moved to New York City, Liang organized a game in Shanghai against to power of reform-minded DENG Xiaoping, then the hub of baseball. After medical an American all-star team, featuring Babe the Chinese were reintroduced to baseball. school and a brief stint as a surgeon for Ruth. By the 1970s the China Baseball Association the Confederate States of America, Boone After the Communist victory in 1949 Liang was formed and in the 1980s Liang Fuchu’s returned to China to become director of the Fuchu taught Chinese sailors in Qingdao sons worked as baseball coaches for city General Hospital for Europeans in Shanghai. how to play baseball. A 1950 Communist teams. The Los Angeles Dodgers made the A sports enthusiast, Boone organized base- Party decree required People’s Libera- first overtures for international coopera- ball teams in Shanghai schools. From there tion Army soldiers to learn the game. Liang tion by sponsoring Chinese developmen- the game spread throughout China. School- Fuchu coached the winning team from tal leagues. In 1986 the Dodgers financed centered tournaments were the primary Shanghai in the 1956 national competition. a new modern baseball facility in Tianjin 篮 venue for competition, but the Chinese also Baseball peaked in China in 1959 when called “Dodger’s Stadium.” Today the China sporadically organized teams for interna- twenty-three teams comprised a national Baseball League has six teams that play a 球 tional games. In 1913, for example, during

● ● league and thirty provincial, military, and thirty-game season. Major League Baseball the presidency of YUAN Shikai, China fin- city teams participated in a national tourna- International maintains close ties with the ished third in the Far East Games. ment. Within a few years, however, MAO China Baseball Association.

Baseball remained popular in China for over Zedong decided to disband the league n June Grasso 40 fifty years, but its heyday came during the claiming it was a remnant of Western impe-

called him China’s “biggest export” ing program, playing more than thirty lined him from the rest of the Houston ever. However, the biggest gainer from practice games. The Chinese men’s Rockets season, and his Olympic team- Yao Ming’s signing might just be the team faced problems such as a rela- mates had to cope with the possibil- NBA itself because the increased inter- tively weak guard play, a loose defense, ity that Yao would have to sit out the est of Asian fans has contributed to the and tendency to miss shots at cru- Beijing Games. NBA’s policy of expanding overseas, cial moments. Only if these problems The Chinese women’s basketball team especially in Asian markets. were solved during training could the set fourth place as its goal in the Chinese men’s team, led by Yao Ming, Beijing Olympics. Led by MIAO Lijie Basketball in the Wang Zhizhi, and YI Jianlian 易建联, be 苗立杰 and SUI Feifei 隋菲菲, in the Beijing Olympics a match for the strong teams fielded by spring of 2008, the eighteen-woman In order to realize its goal of rank- the United States, Argentina, and Spain team began five months of intensive ing sixth in the 2008 Olympics, the in the Beijing Olympics. The team’s training and practice games to prepare Chinese men’s basketball team in prospects were further weakened by a for the Olympics. April 2007 began a six-month train- foot injury Yao Ming sustained in Feb- ruary 2008. The stress fracture side- n ZHANG Ling 张玲

Part T wo Olympic Sports The first official diving competitions 1908 Olympic Games in London, the in the world took place at the aquatic pool was 100 meters long, and the Diving Diving palace in Dongjin, the capital of Song diving tower was removable. In 1908 dynasty of ancient China between 1082 springboard diving was added to the 中 and 1125. ZHAO Jie 赵佶, king of the original platform-diving event. Four Song dynasty, watched these compe- years later, at the 1912 Olympic Games titions. Diving developed further as in Stockholm, Sweden, fancy diving an athletic discipline in seventeenth- was introduced, and women were al- century Europe as gymnasts practiced lowed to compete in their own platform 国 their acrobatics over water. event. Although swimming and diving are In the 1920s divers grew tired of the commonly linked, diving has more in slow rotation from rigid takeoffs start- common with gymnastics. In the early ing with a straight position, and the 1800s Swedish and German gymnasts pike and tuck positions began to domi- 金跳水 practiced their somersaults and twists nate, making multiple somersaults pos- over water. Their practices became sible. From then on, the United States, known as “fancy diving,” a term that instead of Sweden and Germany, began stuck until the early 1900s. to dominate the sport. In 1924 the People have been taking the United States won all Olympic diving plunge — jumping off cliffs and rocks Male divers competed in the modern events except the bronze medals in the 跳 into water to amuse themselves — Olympic Games for the first time in women’s platform event. In 1932 divers since ancient times. Historical evi- 1904; their goal was to swim the far- 水 from the United States occupied every ● ● dence suggests that diving dates back thest underwater after a dive. At the at least to Greece’s ancient games. In Naples, Italy, a 2,500-year-old tomb 41 depicts a man diving from a narrow platform. The world’s earliest competitive diving may have taken place over a millennium ago in ancient China. During the Song dynasty 宋 (960–1279 ce), people performed a kind of fancy diving called “aquatic trapeze.” 水秋千. Participants took off from a rolling trapeze, turned somersaults in the air, then dived into the water. Aquatic trapeze-diving competitions were held in palaces and cities. Techniques included the “starting dive,” “somersault,” “body opening,” and “entry work.” Aquatic trapeze closely resembled modern competitive A group of diving. young divers are instructed in proper technique.

奥运体育 space on the Olympic medals podium board were voluntary, so with competi- Off the Springboard Diving in both the men’s and women’s events. tors opting for more difficult dives, the Diving stages in China were first The 1928 Olympics included compul- basic dives were rarely seen in compe- erected at coastal cities such as Hong sory and voluntary dives. The com- tition. The conditions were then revised Kong, Shanghai, and Tianjin in the late pulsory dives were selected after each to include five required basic dives nineteenth century. In 1935 the Shang- Olympics and were trained for during from the springboard, and restrictions hai International Aquatic Games were the four years before the next Olym- on women’s diving were removed. held. England, United States, Germany, pics. This form of competition con- Several divers have won gold med- and China participated. The diving tinued for twenty years. From 1949 to als in both the springboard and the events involved standing and running 1956, all dives on platform and spring- platform events at the same Olympics. plain dives from firm boards, and they American Albert were for men only. The United States White was the first took first place. At that time mod- in 1924, followed ern competitive diving in China was by American Peter restricted by many factors, including Desjardins in 1928 politics, economics, and culture (few in Amsterdam. He citizens were interested in diving). was the first diver At the Second Far Eastern Games in to score a perfect 1915, held in Shanghai, the scores of 10.00. In the 1948 跳 diving competition were determined by London Olympics, the distance of a dive. That kind of dive 水 Victoria Draves is now called a “forward dive straight.” ● ● of the United Twelve years later, at the Eighth Far States was the first East Games in Shanghai, fancy dives woman diver to win from platform and springboard were 42 a gold medal in performed, and China ranked first. In two diving events. the same year the first Chinese book Only Pat McCor- on diving (translated from English) mick from America was published by Shanghai Diligence won gold in both Publishing Group. The book introduced the springboard techniques, training methods, and div- and the platform ing rules. But between 1937 and 1949, diving events in during civil war in China and World 1952 and 1956 suc- War II, the development of diving in cessively. In recent China, understandably, declined. years diving has evolved rapidly, The People’s Republic of China was es- and great ad- tablished in 1949 and there was a new vances have been effort to promote physical education made in improv- and sporting competition. The national swimming/diving championships took A coach ing techniques and trains his the complexity of place in 1952 and the event attracted student an audience of thousands. After the in proper dives. diving form.

Part T wo Olympic Sports “difficult,” “beautiful,” “skill- Table 1 n China’s Olympic Medal Tally ful,” and “accurate” became (1992–2004) Diving the aims of diving in China. Year Host city Gold Silver Bronze When the Cultural Revolu- 1988 Seoul 2 (out of 4) 3 1 tion began in 1966, many 1992 Barcelona 3 (out of 4) 1 1 1996 Atlanta 3 (out of 4) 1 1 swimming pools became 2000 Sydney 5 (out of 8) 5 0 fish ponds; most swimming 2004 Athens 6 (out of 8) 2 1 and diving teams were dismissed. The national diving Source: Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. team, however, was spared. It trained at a Beijing in- China’s diving team has been called door swimming pool along the “Dream Team” since the Sydney with the national swimming Olympic Games in 2000. The team won team until 1974, when the five gold medals at Sydney, six gold construction of a separate medals in Athens later in 2004, and diving center was finished. won all ten gold medals at the Fif- In that year, the Chinese teenth FINA Diving World Cup in 2006 diving team won four gold (see tables 1 and 2). It is predicted that medals at the Seventh the “Dream Team” would win all eight Asian Games. Four years gold medals at the Beijing Olympics 跳 in 2008. later, at the Eighth Asian 水 Games in Thailand, China ● ● won all the gold and silver Platform Beijing medals in diving. China’s Events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics diving team indisputably include the 3-meter synchronized 43 has been the dominant springboard (men and women), the 10- team in Asia since then. meter synchronized platform (men and Between 1973 and 1979 women), the 3-meter springboard (men Chinese diver Guo Jingjing in mid-dive. Chinese divers improved and women), and the 10-meter plat- their skills and acquired clean-entry form (men and women). championships diving became a popu- techniques. In the 1980s the Chinese Alexandre Despatie of Canada has lar sport in some big cities. diving team impressed many people been considered the main threat to The Soviet Union diving team visited with victories at international diving China in the men’s 3-meter spring- China in 1954. It demonstrated com- competitions, such as the London Div- board. At the age of thirteen, Despatie plex platform diving skills for Chinese ing Invitational in 1980, the U.S. Diving coaches and athletes. Chinese athletes Invitational in 1981, the Eleventh Inter- Table 2 n Fifteenth FINA Diving began to develop their techniques. national University Games in Bucharest World Cup (2006) At the 1955 National Aquatic Games, in 1982, and the Second FINA Diving Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze many athletes performed a forward World Cup in Mexico in 1981. Between 1 China 10 4 1 somersault 1.0 twist dive. By 1958 1989 and 1992, the Chinese diving team 2 USA 0 3 2 some divers executed even the forward won twenty gold medals at the FINA 3 Russia 0 2 1 somersault 3.5 twist dive. From then on Diving World Cup. Source: Féderation Intermantionale de Nanation Ama- teur (FINA).

奥运体育 Games and won three gold medals and Diving one bronze. That success carried on to the 2004 Olympics in Athens, where he won the silver medal in the 3-meter springboard event. At the 2005 FINA World Championships, cheered by the hometown Montreal crowd, Despa- tie became the first diver to be world champion on all three boards. China, however, has a new generation of diving stars, notably HE Chong 何冲 and LUO Yuton 罗玉通. As a world champion rookie, He Chong won the gold in the men’s synchronized 3-meter springboard at Montreal in 2005 and won the gold medal in the 3-meter springboard at the Champions Diving Tour in 2006. 跳 In the women’s 3-meter springboard, the greatest chance of winning gold 水 has been with either GUO Jingjing 郭 ● ● 晶晶; and WU Minxia 吴敏霞. Guo Jingjing was the gold medalist at the 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2004 FINA World 44 Diving Cup; and the 2001, 2005, and 2007 World Diving Championships. In 2004 Guo Jingjing won the Olympic gold medal in the 3-meter women’s springboard in Athens and another gold medal in the 3-meter women’s Diving Champion synchronized springboard with Wu Shi Meiqin helped establish Minxia. Wu Minxia joined the national China as a diving team in 1998; she was the gold med- powerhouse. alist at the 2003 FINA Diving Grand Prix, 2003 FINA Diving Grand Prix, captured the hearts of Canadians when Manchester, England, and gold at the 2003 World Diving Championships, he won a gold medal in the 10-meter 2003 World Championships in Barce- and 2004 and 2006 FINA Diving World platform diving event at the 1998 Com- lona in the 10-meter platform diving Cup. These two outstanding Chinese monwealth Games and became an event. That year he also won his first divers are not only opponents but overnight celebrity. He won the gold world championship in the 10-meter partners, and may cooperate to win for medal in 3-meter springboard events platform diving event and then trav- China the gold medal in the women’s in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in eled to Santo Domingo for the Pan Am 3-meter synchronized springboard.

Part T wo Olympic Sports platform and a gold medal in women’s Diving Duos at the Olympics 10-meter synchronized platform. The Diving seventeen-year-old Jia Tong is a new Olympic synchronized diving (diving in pairs) began 1.5 somersault with 3.5 twists, for example, is hope for China’s diving team. She won at the Sydney 2000 Games. Here’s how the Interna- among the most difficult. the women’s 10-meter platform syn- tional Olympic Committee’s website (www.olympics. A panel of seven judges traditionally scores chronized diving gold at the Eleventh org) explains the competition and judging. a dive, judging such elements as approach, World Swimming Championships in ompetitors perform a series of dives take-off, execution and entry into the water. 2005 when she was fifteen years old. Cand are awarded points up to 10, de- Nine judges assess synchronised diving. She also won the gold medal of the pending upon their elegance and skill. The Four judge the execution of individual dives, women’s 10-meter platform in the FINA points are then adjusted for the degree of and five assess synchronization — how World Cup in 2006. difficulty, based on the number and types the pairs mirror height, distance from the of manoeuvres attempted, such as somer- springboard or platform, speed of rotation Champions of the Plunge saults, pikes, tucks and twists. A reverse and entry into the water. GAO Ming 高敏 (b. 1970), the “Diving Queen,” began her diving training at the age of nine. She joined the Sichuan On the other hand, Russian veteran the 2003 World Championships in Bar- provincial team when she was eleven Julia Pakhalina, one of the world’s best celona in the 10-meter platform. and the national team when she was springboard divers, undoubtedly chal- However, the Chinese athletes, LAO fifteen. When she was sixteen, in 1986, lenges the dominance of China in the Lishi 劳力诗 and JIA Tong 贾童, will she won the women’s springboard title 跳 women’s 3-meter springboard. She was fight for the gold medal in the women’s in the Fifth World Swimming Champi- 水 the silver medalist at the 2006 World 10-meter platform against Laura onships. One year later, Gao became ● ● Championships with a score of 610.62, Wilkinson and Émilie Heymans (see the women’s springboard champion at just 2.62 points behind Wu Minxia. table 3). Lao represented China at the the FINA Diving World Cup in Holland. In the women’s 10-meter platform, 2004 Summer Olympics, earning a She then won gold in the springboard 45 Laura Wilkinson of the United States silver medal in the 10-meter women’s event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, is the most capable opponent of the becoming the first Chinese woman Chinese divers. She was the gold medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games, and Table 3 n Gold Medal Competitors in 2008 Olympics the champion of the 2004 FINA Diving Event Men Women World Cup and the 2005 World Diving 3-m springboard Alexandre Despatie (Canada) Guo Jingjing (China) Championships. She is also the only Dmitriy Dobroskok (Russia) Wu Minxia (China) woman in history to earn all three titles He Chong (China) Julia Pakhalina (Russia) Luo Yutong(China) on the platform. She upset the heavily 10-m platform Lin Yue (China) Laura Wilkinson (USA) favored Chinese divers in the 10-meter Huo Liang (China) Jia Tong (China) platform dive at the 2000 and 2004 Hu Jia (China) Émilie Heymans (Canada) Olympics. She is expected to perform Lao Lishi (China) Cheng Ruolin (China) well in 2008. Another powerful chal- Synchronized 3-m springboard He Chong, Wang Feng (China) Guo Jinjin, Li Ting (China) lenger is Émilie Heymans, a Canadian Guo Jinjin, Wu Minxia (China) diver. She won a silver medal at the Synchronized 10-m platform Lin Yue, Huo Liang (China) Jia Tong, Cheng Ruolin (China) 2000 Summer Olympics in 10-meter Kang Li, Wang Hao (China) platform synchro and a gold medal at Source: Author’s predictions.

奥运体育 athlete to win titles in three successive ing events. When she won a gold medal chronized springboard with Wu Minxia Diving major diving competitions. at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, before finally winning her first individ- XIONG Ni 熊倪 (b. 1974), a legendary she was only thirteen. Throughout the ual Olympic gold medal in the 3-meter figure in Chinese diving, participated 1990s Fu dominated the sport with her women’s springboard. in four Olympics within thirteen years picture-perfect dives. During the 2000 Wu Minxia (b. 1985) took up diving in and won five medals: three gold, one Olympics in Sydney, Fu won her fourth the second Shanghai Diving School in silver, and one bronze. Xiong joined gold medal, joining Americans Pat 1991 and joined the Shanghai munici- the Hunan provincial team at the age McCormick and Greg Louganis as the pal diving team in 1995. She joined the of eight. Four years later, he swept four world’s only quadruple Olympic diving national team in 1998. Wu won a gold titles in the National Diving Champion- champions. With four Olympic gold medal in the first 3-meter synchronized ships, a performance that earned him a medals and one silver, Fu is one of the springboard at the 2003 FINA World place on the national team. At the age best divers China has ever produced. Championships in Barcelona, Spain. of fourteen, he won a silver medal in TIAN Liang 田亮 (b.1979) is one of the One year later, at the Athens Olympics, men’s platform diving at the Olympics youngest members of the national with Guo Jinjin, she won a gold medal in Seoul in 1988. Although his increas- team. He brought glory to the team in the 3-meter synchronized springing weight forced him to shift from by winning gold in the men’s 10-meter board diving event. platform diving to springboard diving, platform in Sydney. At the Athens ZHOU Jihong 周继红 (b. 1965) was the Xiong went on to reach a new horizon Olympics in 2004, he won the bronze first Chinese woman to win an Olympic in his career. At the Olympic Games in medal in the 10-meter platform and a 跳 gold medal in the 10-meter platform Atlanta in 1996, he won a springboard gold medal in the men’s synchronized diving event as well as the first diving 水 diving gold medal, the first for China in 10-meter platform. In 2005 Tian was gold medalist for China. In 1982 she ● ● this event. He also won a gold medal in temporarily demoted to a provincial joined the national team. After retiring the men’s 3-meter springboard syn- squad for violating the regulations of in 1986, Zhou Jihong became the diving chronized diving at the Olympic Games the China General Administration for coach of the provincial diving team of 46 in Sydney. Sport, and he then retired in 2007. Hubei. Four years later, she began to FU Mingxia 伏明霞 (b. 1978) won the Guo Jingjing (b. 1981) began her train- coach the national diving team. Since platform-diving world championship in ing in diving in 1988. In 1992 she was 2000 Zhou has been a head coach of 1991 at the age of twelve, making her selected to dive for the Chinese na- the national diving team. the world youngest diving champion tional team. Guo represented China n FAN Wei 樊维 and LU Zhouxiang 吕洲翔 of all time. She was also the world’s at the 2004 Olympics, winning a gold youngest gold medalist in Olympic div- medal in the 3-meter women’s syn-

Part T wo Olympic Sports the Shiji, an ancient Chinese text. Even and equipment of the sport developed Football/Soccer LI Yu 李漁 (50–130 ce), the famed Han- and the game became popular with Football/ dynasty poet, wrote of football. both the upper and lower classes. The Some three thousand years ago, cuju games declined in thirteenth century 中 Soccer players kicked a leather ball filled with during a period of dynastic change and feathers and hair through an open- political turmoil. ing measuring only 30–40 centimeters Nevertheless, it is generally acknowl- wide into a small net fixed onto long edged that Britain is the birthplace bamboo canes — a feat that obviously of modern soccer. The sport was first 国 demanded great skill and technique. known in Britain as “association foot- In a variation of this maneuver, play- ball,” a rugged, kicking team sport. ers were not permitted to aim at their This term was shortened to “a-soc” and target unimpeded but rather had to finally to “soccer.” Even though the use feet, chest, back, and shoulders sport was loved by ordinary people, 金足球 while trying to withstand the attacks of the government did not approve of it opponents. Use of the hands was not because it took too much of people’s permitted. time. Instead of practicing archery (a sport useful for warfare), they were At the 1999 Women’s World Cup, Cuju was used as a military training playing soccer. This is why, some re- one of the most famous moments of method as well as a physical educa- searchers say, King Edward III banned 足 the tournament was American defender tion exercise in the Han dynasty 汉 soccer in the 1300s. Other kings also Brandi Chastain’s victory celebration (206 bce–220 ce). Cuju started to be- 球 tried to suppress the sport, but too ● ● after scoring the Cup-winning penalty come popular as a sport in the Tang many people loved the game and did against China. She took off her jersey dynasty 唐 (618–907 ce) and Song not care if they were jailed or punished and waved it over her head (as men dynasty 宋 (960–1280 ce). During for playing it. 47 frequently do), showing her muscular these periods the rules, techniques, torso and sports bra as she celebrated. The 1999 final in the Rose Bowl in Pas- adena, California, had an attendance Chinese Classic Football of 90,185, a world record for a women’s sporting event. n over five thousand years of feudal his- opposing sides, each with goals. During the Soccer has certainly come a long way Itory, the Chinese people created some Han (206 bce–220 ce) and Tang (618–907 ce) traditional forms of physical exercise and dynasties, due to its competitiveness, the since its origins. Ancient cultures as activities and embraced others. Among game was often used by military mandarins diverse as the Greeks, Persians, and them were archery, cuju (Chinese football), to train soldiers in order to cultivate their Vikings played ball games that could polo, guiyouci (long-distance running), wres- fighting spirit and improve their physical have evolved into soccer. However, the tling, and wushu (martial arts), all with a conditioning. However, as time passed, Fédération Internationale de Football distinct Chinese character. two goals merged into one in the Song Association (FIFA) acknowledged in Cuju was Chinese classic football. It started (960–1279 ce) and Yuan (1260–1368) dynas- 2002 that ancient soccer first appeared during the Warrior States Period (475– ties. Vigorous competition was replaced by a much gentler phenomenon: less competi- in Zi Bo 淄博, China, when the Chi- 221 bce). It was originally an aggressive, nese began to play a game called cuju competitive game and was played by two tive and primarily exhibitive. 蹴鞠. Cu means “kick,” and ju means n FAN Hong “ball,” and the game is mentioned in

奥运体育 Soccer began to spread from England Football/Soccer to other countries in the late 1800s. The first official Olympic men’s soccer match took place at the 1900 Paris Games, where Britain defeated France to claim the first soccer gold medal. Since then soccer has been an official Olympic sport. Women’s soccer became an Olympic sport in 1996 in At- lanta, where the U.S. team defeated the Chinese team and won the gold medal. In 1904 the FIFA was founded in Paris, and by 1930 there were professional Bora Milutinovic leagues in many European countries. led China’s National Team FIFA established its own world pro- in the 2002 fessional soccer championship — the FIFA world cup, World Cup — playing the first one at and remains a popular figure the Centenary Stadium in Montevideo, in China today. Uruguay, on 18 July 1930. 足 With increased television coverage of League.” In 1955 the European Cup was as Beijing, Tianjin, and Guangzhou, 球 the sport, soccer grew in popularity ● ● established as a competition for league in 1856. In 1879 the first documented during the 1960s. The champion of the champions of European countries. The match took place in Shanghai. In FIFA World Cup is considered the “real” competition have has been a driving 1887 the Shanghai Football Club was champion in the soccer world. For force in the development of soccer in formed. Twenty years later, in 1907, 48 players the Golden Boot Award, which Europeand a festival for soccer fans all the first soccer league was established belongs to the leading goal scorer(s) over the world. in Shanghai, with Thomas Dewar — a of each championship, is the highest whiskey distiller — providing a trophy honor (see table 1). Modern Soccer in China to the winners. Although the sport was Besides the Olympic Games and the It has been recorded that the British initially dominated by British expatri- FIFA World Cup, another leading world brought modern soccer to China, first ates, other nationalities soon joined in, soccer tournament is the European to Shanghai, then to big cities such notably the Portuguese. Cup, also known as the “Champions In 1923 the South China Club in Hong Kong represented China on a tour of Table 1 n FIFA World Cup and Golden Boot Award Winners since 1986 Australia. In 1936 China participated Year World Cup Golden Boot Award in the Olympic soccer events in Berlin. 1986 Argentina Gary Liniker (England) 6 goals Between the 1920s and 1940s, under 1990 West Germany Toto Schillaci (Italy) 6 goals the supervision of the Chinese Athletic 1994 Brazil Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) 6 goals; Oleg Salenko (Russia) 6 goals Association, soccer matches took place 1998 France Davor Suker (Croatia) 6 goals in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou 2002 Brazil Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima (Brazil) 8 goals between a variety of clubs, including 2006 Italy Miroslav Klose (Germany) 5 goals Union, Korean SC, Tung Hwa, Tsong Source: Fédération Internationale de Football Association website.

Part T wo Olympic Sports Peh, plus European teams Sokol, Ital- iano, and Jewish Recreation. Football/Soccer In 1951, just two years after the Peo- ple’s Republic of China was founded, the National Football Federation was formed and the initial League Champi- onship was held. In many cases teams represented regions rather than cities. Within a few years, sports institutes were developed, attended by the most promising players from factory and school teams. These institutes, along with the formation of a National Class A Tournament, enhanced the level of play. During the 1950s, Chinese teams built their skill levels through matches with foreign teams — primarily from other Communist countries. In the mid-1960s, the Cultural Revolu- 足 tion (1966–1976) brought a halt to the game’s progress, since all competitive 球 sports were banned until 1972. Two ● ● years later, through the efforts of Henry Fok, FIFA executive and long-time sup- porter of soccer in China, FIFA member 49 teams were permitted to play the Chi- nese. Then, in 1976, China was allowed to join the Asian Football Conference. That ushered in a wave of international activities. Pele and the New York Cos- mos visited China to play, followed by teams from twenty-nine countries. In turn, some forty-seven national teams welcomed the Chinese team. By 1980, China was accepted as a full member of FIFA, which allowed its national team to play in qualifying matches for the World Cup, the Asian Cut, and the Olympics.

Sun Jihai is one of the most famous Chinese football players playing outside of China.

奥运体育 Football/Soccer

Members of the Chinese women’s 足 national team. 球 ● ● In 1984 China won the silver medal at the country’s most popular sport. This commensurate improvements in skills the Asian Cup. In 1987 China qualified period was the golden age in China’s either on the pitch or in club admin- to play at the Twenty-fourth Olym- soccer history. However, during the istration. Systematic difficulties have 50 pic Games, in Seoul, South Korea, by last ten years, soccer fans have lost worked against the promotion of the defeating its strong opponent, Japan, their patience and passion and finally professional sport. The Chinese first di- in the qualifying round. This event abandoned the CPSL. According to an vision soccer league is jointly operated became a landmark in China’s soccer online survey, which was carried out by the Chinese Football Association history. with cooperation between the televi- and the Football Sport Management In 1994 the Chinese Professional Soc- sion network of the People’s Republic Center of the State General Adminis- cer League (CPSL) was established. of China (CCTV) and sina.com, soccer tration of Sports. This dual system has Under the supervision of the Chinese fans questioned the credibility of the for ten years headed up the richest Football Association’s (CFA) Profes- results of more than half of the first sport in China. However, the system sional League Committee, this nation- division matches in the 2003 season. has been beset with crises and seems wide league was divided into Divisions In many cities soccer enthusiasts boy- destined to issue regulations that are 1 and 2: Division 1 was subdivided cotted live games in a wave of silent full of loopholes. The ups and downs into Divisions Jia 甲 A and Jia B (jia is a protest. of Chinese soccer over the past decade Chinese word for “top” or “first”). Divi- Beyond a doubt a decade’s worth of can perhaps be explained by a man- sion 2 was subdivided into regional professional soccer has lined the pock- agement system that has not yet been divisions. As the twenty-first century ets of Chinese players, club managers, fully reformed. began, the CPSL attracted countless and even referees. However, this activ- In 1996 China’s women’s national soc- soccer fans in China and made soccer ity has taken place in the absence of cer team stunned the world by win-

Part T wo Olympic Sports ning a silver medal at the twenty-sixth Table 2 n FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s and SUN Jihai 孙继海 (b. 1977) is Olympic Games in Atlanta. This victory Women’s Teams World Ranking well-regarded for his speed and Football/Soccer was China’s unique achievement in Ranking Team strength and also valued for his soccer and brought China a new hope n Men’s Teams versatility — having played several key in the sport. 1 Argentina positions in the past, including left 2 Brazil wing, central defense, and holding mid- Olympic Soccer/Football 3 Italy fielder. He was one of the first Chinese Soccer matches in the Olympic Games 4 Spain players in the English leagues, signing 5 Germany in Beijing take place in five cities: Bei- with the Crystal Palace team in 1998 6 Czech Republic jing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Qinhuangdao, then moving to the Manchester City 7 France FC. Though plagued by injuries, he is and Shenyang. The men’s title game 8 Portugal remarkably resilient and continues to will be held in Beijing at the National 9 Netherlands Stadium. Twenty-eight teams (twelve 10 Croatia be a key defender for Manchester City. women’s teams and sixteen men’s n Women’s Teams SUN Wen 孙雯 (b. 1973) is one of the teams) will compete against each 1 Germany most outstanding international female other. 2 USA soccer players in China — the first According to the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola 3 Sweden woman ever nominated as the Asian World Ranking established by FIFA, in 4 Brazil Soccer Confederation’s Player of the 5 Norway Year. She joined the China national the men’s events the finals may be 足 between traditionally strong teams 6 Korea DPR team at the age of seventeen. In the 7 France such as Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Spain, 1999 Women’s World Cup, Sun was 球

8 Denmark ● ● Germany, France, and Portugal. In the awarded both the Golden Ball and 9 Canada the Golden Boot. Named in 2001 at women’s events the United States, 10 England Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Brazil the FIFA Woman Player of the Century stood out as leaders. (See table 2.) (along with U.S. player Michelle Ak- 51 cer Team in 1923 and played for the ers), Sun retired in 2003, then returned Leading Athletes and national team that won the 1925, 1927, to play in 2005, before retiring again. Coaches in China 1930, and 1934 Far Eastern Games. He Often sought for her opinion of China’s chances at Beijing 2008, she remains LEE Huitang 李惠堂 (b. 1905) is con- became the captain of the Chinese an icon for female athletes around the sidered one of the greatest Asian foot- national team that competed at the world. ballers in the pre–World War II period. Eleventh Olympic Games in Berlin in During the 1930s, there was an old 1936. During his professional career, FIFA Women’s World Cup 2007 was held saying in Shanghai about Lee Huitang: Lee Huitang made 1,260 goals. He was in China from 10–30 September 2007. “If you want to see the Beijing Opera, awarded the title “The World Soccer Originally, China was to host the 2003 you should go to see the performance King” by a soccer journal in Germany Women’s World Cup, but the outbreak of Meilanfang [the famous actor at the in 1936. He became the head coach of SARS in that country forced that time]; if you want to watch soccer, you of the Chinese national team in 1948. event to be moved to the United States. He coached the Chinese Taipei soc- must go to see Lee Huitang.” He was n FAN Wei 樊维 and LU Zhouxiang 吕洲翔 called the “King of Asian Football.” cer team and led it to win the 1954 and 1958 Asian Games. In 1965 he became Lee Huitang was born in Hong Kong. vice-president of FIFA. He is the first He joined the China National Soc- Chinese to reach that position

奥运体育 many records of such acrobatic gym- cient Romans used wooden horses and Gymnastics nastics such as swing, handstand, som- other apparatuses to practice eques- Gymnastics ersault, and throw and catch, which trian skills. were similar in execution to modern It was not until the nineteenth cen- 中 gymnastics. tury, however, that modern gymnastics began to develop rapidly in Europe. The Launch of Modern The European Gymnastics Federation Gymnastics (EGF) was founded in 1881 and the The word gymnastics comes from the Federation of International Gymnastics 国 Greek word gymnos, which means (FIG) in 1896. Gymnastics was a sport “naked.” Its meaning is derived from in the first modern Olympic Games the ancient Greek custom of exercis- held in Athens in 1896. ing naked. The definition and content If people today could watch the inter- of gymnastics have varied throughout national artistic gymnastics competi- history. In the fifth century bce, such 金体操 tions of one hundred years ago, they activities as running, jumping, throw- would probably find some of them fa- ing, wrestling, dancing, horse riding, miliar; competitions featured not only and military games were all classified ymnastics has a long history such events as horizontal bars, parallel G as gymnastics, and this definition held in China. During the Spring and Au- bars, hand-rings, vault, and pommel 体 for many centuries. Later the ancient tumn period (770–476 bce) and horse, but also long jump, rope climb- 春秋 Greeks practiced gymnastics to im- 操 the Warring States period (475– ing, and weight lifting. But these events ● ● 战国 prove physical fitness, whereas the an- 221 bce), Chinese people practiced Dao were exclusively for men; not until the Yin Shu 导引术 (medical gymnastics), 52 which was similar to modern gymnastics and was practiced to heal illnesses and to keep the body healthy. Fitness gymnastics, such as Wu Qin Xi (five- animal exercise), Ba Duan Jin 八段锦 (eight fragments), and Yi Jing Jing 易经筋 (muscle-bone strengthening exercise), all practiced by the ancient Chinese, are still practiced by many Chinese today. In addition, ancient Chi- nese literature and paintings contain

Even ancient artistic styles demonstrate how gymnastics and acrobatics have long been a part of Chinese culture.

Part T wo Olympic Sports Ninth Olympic Games in 1928 were women granted the right to compete. The Origins of Gymnastics Gymnastics Today men’s gymnastics events include team and all-round individual events, eople performed balancing and tum- used wooden horses to practice mounting floor exercise, pommel horse, hand- Pbling activities in Egypt and China and dismounting. This apparatus evolved rings, vault, parallel bars, and horizon- before 2000 bce. During the second mil- into the vaulting and pommel horses of tal bars. Women’s gymnastics events lennium bce Minoan athletes on the island gymnastics. Early models were built to re- include team and all-round individual of Crete in the Mediterranean not only semble horses with saddles or had at least events, vault, uneven bars, balance balanced and tumbled, but also grasped one end curved upward like the neck of a bars, and floor exercise. the horns of a charging bull and vaulted horse. The three sections of the gymnastics with a front handspring to a landing on the horse still retain the names neck, saddle, and Of all the Olympic sports, gymnas- bull’s back. As part of their training in skills croup (rump). tics may be the best at demonstrat- needed in warfare, the ancient Romans n Richard V. McGehee and Russ Crawford ing the agility of the human body and at making spectators fall head over heels in love with an athletic performance. Gymnastics has become one The Romanian female gymnast Nadia eth century, it became the main part of the Olympic sports that awards the Comaneci amazed the world at the of physical education activities in most gold medals. Together with the 1976 Olympic Games as she became schools. The sport developed after es- men’s and women’s trampoline and the the first gymnast in Olympic history tablishment of the People’s Republic of artistic gymnastics events, gymnastics to earn a perfect 10 score. She earned China in 1949, as the country began to 体 seven perfect scores in all, a feat that recover from civil war and the ravages accounts for seventeen gold medals. As 操 a result Olympic gymnastics is vigor- seems almost unachievable by gym- of World War II. The Chinese national ● ● ously contested among sports powers nasts of today. gymnastics teams were formed in 1953, around the world. The Chinese gymnast LI Ning 李宁 was and China became a member of the Federation of International Gymnastics After the 2004 Olympic Games in famous for the extreme difficulty of his 53 routines. In the Twenty-third Olympic in 1956. At the end of the 1970s, the Sydney, Australia, the Federation of Chinese gymnastics teams started to International Gymnastics decided to Games in 1984, he won three gold medals in the floor exercise, pommel horse, show outstanding results in interna- eradicate the subjective factors of the tional competitions. In the 1980s the judges that affect the scores gymnasts and hand-ring events and invented two difficult hand-rings and parallel bars Chinese men’s and women’s gymnas- are awarded. In 2006 new rules were tics teams became two of the most adopted. The “10.0 full score” was abol- moves, later named after him by the Federation of International Gymnastics. powerful teams in the world. In 1982 ished, and the Code of Points was split Li Ning shocked the world with his six into more detailed parts to make the The Russian beauty Svetlana Khorkina straight gold medals in the Sixth Gym- scores show the differences between is no doubt the queen of gymnastics. nastics World Cup and won the title gymnasts more accurately. Her scores are always at the top of the “Prince of Gymnastics” at the Twenty- field. Her elegance has enthralled audi- third Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Famous Gymnasts ences throughout the world. Two of his teammates won gold medals The United States, Russia, Ukraine, in the same Olympics. LOU Yun 楼 Romania, and China are among the Gymnastics in China 云 won a gold medal in the vault, and most powerful countries in contem- Modern gymnastics was introduced MA Yanhong 马艳红 won in the un- porary world gymnastics. From these in China around 1860. During the late even bars. countries have emerged several stars. nineteenth century and early twenti-

奥运体育 Chinese women have won Gymnastics more gold medals than Chi- nese men have in international competitions — thus, the “stronger women and feebler men” phenomenon was characteristic of Chi- nese sports in the 1980s and 1990s. By the year 2000, however, performance in both programs had slipped. The men’s team won only one gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and the women none. After training with great determination, the Chinese gymnastics teams enjoyed a revival and won eight of the fourteen 体 gold medals in the Gym- A member of nastics World Champion- the Chinese 操 gymnastics ● ● ship in Aarhus, Denmark, team at the in October 2006. YANG Wei 2004 Olympics. 扬威 won three gold medals 54 in the men’s team, all-round, and parallel bars events. might be the biggest obstacle to their As for men’s gymnastics, the U.S., Japa- In addition, CHENG Fei 程菲 was the winning gold. The U.S. team has been nese, and Russian teams remain Chi- most successful woman, winning three dominant in the sport, and although na’s strongest opponents in the team titles in the women’s team, vault, and the prowess of the Russian and Ro- events. YANG Wei and CHEN Yibing floor exercise events. manian teams has declined in recent 陈一冰 are two particularly promising years with the retirement of a number Chinese athletes, and calm and stable Twenty-first-Century of star gymnasts, these teams and gymnasts such as XIAO Qin 肖钦 and Chinese Gymnasts the fast-rising Italian, Ukrainian, and FENG Jing 冯敬 almost guarantee the As the world prepared for the 2008 Australian teams were also significant Chinese team a gold medal in the Olympics, the Chinese gymnastics threats to the Chinese women. The men’s pommel horse event. CHEN Yi Bing’s hand-rings performance and teams received considerable atten- Chinese gymnast Cheng Fei, with her Yang Wei’s and LI Xiaopeng’s tion, but knowledgeable observers signature “Cheng Fei Vault,” has been 李小鹏 parallel bars skills are known through- were alert to the fact that it was in thought to have a good chance to win out the world — and likely to bring some ways a new, young, and untried gold medals in the vault and floor home gold. group of athletes, and suggested that exercise events. Winning the balance beam gold medal is another goal of the the instability of their performances n ZHANG Ling 张玲 Chinese women’s team.

Part T wo Olympic Sports series. These series were applied were roused by the Chinese defeat in in physical training, attacking, and the Opium War of 1842. Martial Arts Martial Arts defending. Modern Western sport had a tremen- During the Qing dynasty 清 (1644–1912) dous impact on martial arts. At the 中 martial arts were sometimes discour- end of the nineteenth century, some aged by the Manchu rulers. Wushu gymnastics specialists introduced Eu- nonetheless remained popular and ropean gymnastics to the marital arts. continued to develop: more than sixty The establishment of the Jingwu Asso- kinds of fist positions were developed. ciation (1910) and the Chinese Martial 国 Each fist position feature was a series Arts Academy (1927) grew out of this and each series consisted of several transformation of Chinese martial arts. movements. That’s not all. During the The “new martial arts” were a combi- centuries under Qing rule there were nation of traditional martial arts and more than twenty kinds of Chinese modern gymnastics. 金武术 boxing and over ten kinds of broad- During the early 1950s, martial arts swordplay, such as long-handle broad- became a formal event in China’s Na- sword, short-hilted broadsword, and tional Games. In addition martial arts Shaolin double swords. Wushu had a The Chinese regard martial arts tournaments were held periodically revival, too, in the middle of the nine- (wushu) 武术 as the essence of tradi- in both urban and suburban areas in teenth century as nationalistic feelings 武 tional Chinese sport. Wushu originated China. in the fighting skills that were part 术 ● ● of military training in ancient China. These fighting skills were divided into two categories during the late Song dy- 55 nasty 宋 (960–1279). The first category was entertainment: Books in the Song dynasty recorded martial arts performances such as wrestling, fighting among two or more opponents, fighting with sticks, and archery in cities and temples. The second category was self-defense: People practiced martial arts skills in secret societies for self- defense or military purposes. During the Ming dynasty 明 (1368– 1644), the techniques and postures of martial arts developed. The basic element of martial arts in this period consisted of movements concentrated China’s Wong Ting Hong on different body and foot techniques. fought Vietnam’s Phan Movements such as jumping, roll- Quoc Vinh during the Wushu competition of ing, and rotation were organized into the 15th Asian Games.

奥运体育 International Martial Arts Table 1 n World Martial Arts Championships (1991–2005) Martial Arts Since the beginning of the twenti- CountrieS/regions eth century, martial arts have been Date Place Participating internationally acknowledged as a 1991 (10/12–18) Beijing, China 41 1993 (11/21–27) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 53 sport — even though many martial arts 1995 (8/17–22) Baltimore, MD, United States 56 do not meet certain Western criteria 1997 (11/3–8) Rome, Italy 52 for a sport, such as rules of play that 1999 (11/3–7) Hong Kong, China 61 allow a winner to be determined and 2001 (10/31–11/4) Yerevan, Armenia 30 a primary goal of victory — and they 2003 (11/3–7) Macao, China 58 have become more and more popular 2005 (12/9–14) Hanoi, Vietnam 65 around the world. International martial arts competitions have been frequently held since that time and some martial the following categories: long-fist grams, 85 kilograms, and 90 kilograms. arts have developed new forms that are boxing, southern-style fist boxing, The World Martial Arts Championships easier to judge in competition and are Taijiquan 太极拳, swordplay, spearplay, have been held eight times between more closely aligned with Western con- broadswordplay, staffplay, southern- 1991 and 2005 (see table 1). The World ventions about what a sport is. style broadsword, southern-style staff Martial Arts and Free Combat Games Taiji swordplay, and duel. The catego- have been held three times. In addition At the Eleventh Asian Games in 1990, ries of free fighting for men and women Europe and America have also orga- 武 martial arts became a formal event. are 48 kilograms, 52 kilograms, 56 nized a number of international martial One year later, the International Wushu kilograms, 60 kilograms, 65 kilograms, arts championships. 术 (Martial Arts) Federation (IWUF) was

● ● 70 kilograms, 75 kilograms, 80 kilo- established. The IWUF was accepted as a full member of the General Association of 56 International Sports Fed- erations in 1994 and was recognized by the Interna- tional Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1999. To date, the World Wushu Championships consist of

Martial arts have a deep history in China, and have branched out into competitive techniques and more peaceful practices.

Part T wo Olympic Sports Wushu Styles and Genres Martial Arts Martial arts had developed a large Tai Chi number of different techniques, characteristics, styles, and genres by the ai chi is a Chinese martial art that is (1799–1872), who had learned it in Chenjia- end of the sixteenth century. However, Tlinked to the Daoist meditative, philo- gou. Scholars say Yang accepted all chal- there were no uniform criteria for dif- sophical, and medical tradition. In China lenges from the many Beijing martial arts ferent genres. Generally, the genres invalids and the elderly often perform the masters, never to be defeated and never to were sorted by category, section, reli- soft, slow movements of the popular Yang seriously injure an opponent. He became style of tai chi to strengthen the constitution known as “Yang the Invincible” and was gion, and tactical features. and to promote longevity. Advocates say appointed martial arts instructor to the The differences between Neijia boxing that disciplined daily practice enhances the imperial court. Yang Luchan publicly taught and Waijia boxing are their tactical fea- quality and circulation of chi (vital energy) the slow and soft performance of a lengthy tures and drilling styles. The character- within the body, improves bodily functions, sequence of patterns, but he transmitted a istics of Neijia boxing are staying still, tones muscles, and engenders a relaxed much larger and more varied body of lore to attacking while defending, and taking mental attitude. The majority of the millions his private students, a practice in keeping advantage of the opponent’s strength. of people who practice tai chi in China and with martial arts tradition. Popular concep- elsewhere do so for these benefits, but tai tions of tai chi as an only vaguely martial The characteristics of Waijia boxing are chi also is a premier martial art that can be exercise, although beneficial to health and bravery, promptness, exerting strength, practiced even late in life. longevity, are drawn from Yang’s and his attacking forward, and with anticipa- successors’ publicly taught form. This pro- tory strategy. Each genre consists of Chinese legendary history attributes tai chi’s origin to Zhang Sanfeng, a Daoist ex- cess of simplifying and softening has made 武 several categories, named after its style pert who was canonized in 1459, but tai chi tai chi accessible to many more people or founder. than would otherwise be the case. However, 术

entered recorded history centuries later as ● ● The Shaolin 少林 genre was named af- a martial art practiced esoterically by the the more obviously martial and physically strenuous Chen style continues to be prac- ter its origin place — Shaolin Temple in people of Chenjiagou in Henan Province. A ticed, as do the derivative Sun, Wu, and Henan Province, the holy land of Bud- form of the art was first demonstrated and Hao styles. 57 dhism. The characteristics of Shaolin taught in public in Beijing by Yang Luchan n Michael G. Davis are rigid attack, fast break, and moving back and forth flexibly. It features exercises for one person as well as combat between two or more fighters. Nowa- hsiang) 武, and Sun 孙 style. Chen qiaoshou 少林桥手, Wuzuquan 五祖拳, days, Shaolin is the most influential style and Yang style are the most Hequan 鹤拳, and Luohanquan 罗汉拳 genre in China. Hundreds of martial popular styles among martial arts in Fujian Province; Zhoujiaquan 周家 arts schools are named after it. Each fans. They originated in Wen County in 拳, Tulongquan 屠龙拳, and Ciaoceda year, many martial arts fans from for- Henan Province. Taijiquan demands a 小策打 in Guangxi Province; Hongji- eign counties travel to Shaolin to study relaxed mind and relaxed abdominal aquan 洪家拳, Heihuquan 黑虎拳, and martial arts. respiration. It can improve respiration, JInggangquan 金刚拳 in Zhejiang Prov- increase the metabolic rate, and help ince; Hongmenquan 洪门拳, Yumen- Wudang 武当 boxing originated in the people keep fit. Because of its slow quan 鱼门拳, and Kongmenquan 孔门 Wudang Mountains in Hubei Prov- and soft motion, it can be applied as a 拳 in Hubei Province; and Wujiaquan ince, and includes Taijiquan and Taiji healing exercise, especially for elders 巫家拳, Hongjiaquan 洪家拳, and Xue- swordplay. Taijiquan has existed since and people with illness. jiaquan 薛家拳 in Hunan Province. the Ming dynasty (1368–1683). There are five styles of Taijiquan: Chen 陈, Southern-style fist boxing was popular Among all the styles of Southern-style Yang 杨, Wu (Jiquan) 吴, Wu (Yu- in southern China. It includes Shaolin- fist boxing, Hongquan洪拳 is the most

奥运体育 popular. Hongquan originated in simu- develop, however, as China intended. two categories for women’s events — 52 Martial Arts lation: It generally simulates animals’ Denis Oswald, executive commissioner kilograms and 60 kilograms. movements and combines attack and and president of the ASOIF (Associa- The Chinese national martial arts team defense tactics with an artistic tech- tion of Summer Olympic International was established in 2006 specifically to nique. It includes mantis-style boxing, Federations) indicated that the main compete in the Beijing Olympic Games. monkey-style boxing, eagle-claw box- consideration in determining whether The team consists of forty-eight ing, duck-style boxing, snake-style box- martial arts would become an Olym- athletes specializing in martial arts ing, drunkard boxing, and eagle boxing. pic event was its popularity around routines and fifty athletes competing the world, and it was determined that in the free-fighting events, including Martial Arts and the the martial arts were not as popular as famous fighters such as LIU Hailong柳 Olympic Games other modern sports. 海龙 and CHEN Long 陈龙. In 1936 China’s martial arts team per- After several negotiations between the In international competitions, Malay- formed at the Berlin Olympics, receiv- International Olympic Committee (IOC) sia, Vietnam, Japan, Hong Kong, and ing an ovation from the audience. This and Beijing Organizing Committee for Macao are strong competitors. For free was the first time that the Chinese the Olympic Games (BOCOG), it was fighting, Russia, France, Italy, Iran, and martial arts were demonstrated at the agreed that a special event entitled Philippines challenge the dominance of Olympic Games. the “Beijing Olympic Wushu Competi- China. European athletes are capable When Beijing successfully bid for the tion” would be held during the 2008 in heavyweight categories. 2008 Olympic Games, there was a Olympic Games. Fifteen sets of medals 武 n TAN Hua 谭华 strong intention to include the martial would be awarded with three catego- 术 arts in the 2008 Games. Things did not ries for men’s events — 56 kilograms, ● ● 70 kilograms, and 85 kilograms — and

Part T wo Olympic Sports the Han dynasty 汉 (206 bce–220 ce), competitive than those from the east nobles bathed in the royal aquatic and north. For example, in 1933 the Swimming Swimming pool. During the Tang dynasty 唐 (618– Guangdong swimming team won the 907 ce), a swimming pool called the men’s group gold medal, and the Hong 中 “aquatic hall” 水殿 was built for nobles’ Kong swimming team won the women’s use, and a ball game similar to modern group gold medal at the Fifth National water polo came into fashion there. Games. YANG Xiuqiong 杨秀琼, a fe- Whether a swimmer chose to wade, male swimmer from Hong Kong known float, or dive, in ancient China swim- as the “Chinese Mermaid,” won all the 国 ming was considered a practical life gold medals in the women’s individual skill rather than a recreational activity events. or sport. Olympic Swimming Competitive Swimming In 1896, at the first modern Olympic 金游泳 in China Games, swimming was an Olympic Competitive swimming — using mostly event for men, with the 100-meter and the breaststroke — began in Europe 1,500-meter freestyle competitions around 1800. England was the first being held in open water. As swim- Since prehistoric times people ming gained popularity, more freestyle have taken to swimming like, well, modern society to develop swimming events were included, followed by the 游 ducks to water. Drawings of swim- as a sport. Swimming came to China backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, and mers dating from the Stone Age have later in the nineteenth century and 泳 individual medley. In 1908 the world ● ● been found in the Cave of Swimmers it wasn’t long before competitions swimming association, Fédération in Egypt and references to swimming were organized in coastal cities such Internationale de Natation (FINA), was appear from 2000 bce in the as Hong Kong, Guangzhou (Canton), Epic of Gil- established. 59 gamesh, the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Bible, Shanghai, Tianjing, and Qindao. In 1887 and later in the Old English epic poem the first 25 5 25 meter swimming pool For a variety of reasons women were Beowulf. was built in Guangzhou. In 1906 the excluded from swimming in the early Victoria Swimming Federation of Hong years of the modern Olympic Games. In China swimming originated along Kong started to hold an annual sea In 1896, 1900, 1904, and 1906, women the middle and lower reaches of the competition. Participants were Chinese could not participate because the “Fa- Huang (Yellow) River where 黄河 and European residents of Hong Kong. ther of the Modern Olympics,” Baron people developed the skills to move Pierre de Coubertin of France, shared through and float on water. Swimming At the beginning of the twentieth a belief commonly held during the was not only a fundamental life skill century, swimming associations, such Victorian era that women were too but also a hunting and warring skill. as the famous Nanhua Association frail to engage in competitive sport. It The Chinese character for bath was and Dongshan Aquatics in Guang- 浴 was not until the 1912 Olympics that found on oracle bones of the Shang dy- dong Province, were established in women finally got their way and were nasty (1766–1045 bce), and the word some coastal cities. Additionally, the 商 allowed into the Olympic swimming first appeared in annals of the China Swimming Research Society was swim 泅 competition. Spring and Autumn period 春秋 (770– founded in 1924. 476 ce). Drawings on bronze ware from Swimming competitions took place in While the first modern Olympic Games the period 475–221 bce show scenes the whole of China. However, swim- had only four swimming events, three of people swimming in rivers. During ming teams from the south were more of them freestyle, the Olympics now

奥运体育 Swimming Welcome Home: China’s Young Foreign-born Athletes

is mother sits on a wicker chair on the ing the deck they once looked up to. Each The boy’s parents invite the coach for a Hviewing platform, remembering the icy coach looks after a small elite squad with meal. In the restaurant she confides that mornings when as a girl she pounded length swimmers of different ages, a system de- she believes him to have Olympic potential. after interminable length of the same open- signed to encourage competition between She would like him to return on a regular air pool. both coaches and their charges. basis and she will process him into the She had gone on to enjoy success at the The boy emerges from the changing rooms, Chinese system. The mother casts her mind national level and then found her way to a slight white figure blinking in the after- back to the time she went to the embassy the United Kingdom. Her British husband noon light. When the other children arrive, to add her baby to her passport. The clerk gave their baby his copper-colored hair their sun-browned bodies are in stark con- had laughed and said, “He doesn’t look and Western complexion. The boy’s eyes, trast with his. Chinese!” One day, she thought, perhaps he will have a choice. though, were a constant reminder that he The boy discovers that the pool isn’t heated, was also Asian. not even from the sub-tropical sun. But In reality, China’s foreign-born sons and Even when his parents were giving his age he grits his teeth and ploughs his lone daughters are returning. Swimming coaches in months rather than years, the boy was 50-meter furrows. His new coach, who had in Chengdu and Beijing train China’s foreign- at home in water. His infant doggy paddle herself achieved national success and then born young swimmers every Easter and early changed into a breast stroke. He and come to this province in search of opportu- summer vacation. These children come from the United States and Canada and from the 游 his parents had a long wait before he could nity, finds a way to tell him what to do. When finally enter competition at the age of nine. she has seen enough, the coach joins his United Kingdom and other European countries to compete in sports where China is 泳 On a visit back to her hometown in China, mother on the platform. The boy is strong,

● ● especially strong — swimming, table tennis, his mother takes the boy to her childhood she says, and has determination, but he wastes power through poor technique. badminton, and gymnastics — and to take pool. It is an open-air, lido-style 50-meter advantage of facilities and training methods pool beside the new football stadium. He trains in China for three hours a day. His unavailable in their birth countries. By the 60 Tower blocks surround it and clanging from skin gets closer in color to that of the others Olympics of 2020, these young athletes of construction sites carries over the pool. and he and the Chinese children lose their the Chinese diaspora may show the world Some of his mother’s fellow squad members shyness and began to practice each other’s what they can achieve. languages. Some of the boys begin to see from the 1980s were now coaches, tread- n Craig Gill him as a rival.

have thirty-two swimming events: six- An Aquatic Powerhouse male and thirteen female athletes, was teen for men and sixteen for women. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) formed. Each event has a maximum of eight was founded on 1 October 1949. Swim- In 1953 WU Chuanyu 吴传玉 won the swimmers. Preliminary heats in the 50- ming was considered a valuable sport gold medal in the men’s 100-meter meter, 100-meter, and 200-meter events by the new government. In 1952 the backstroke at the First International lead to semifinals and finals based on first national swimming champion- Youth Friendship Games. It was the the fastest times. In relays and individ- ships took place in Guangzhou. Seven first time that the red flag of the PRC ual events of 400 meters or more, the teams participated. After the champi- was raised at an international sporting eight fastest finishers in the preliminar- onships the national swimming and event. As a result of participation in the ies advance directly to the finals. diving squad, consisting of twenty-five Games, the Chinese sports authority realized the importance of the mod-

Part T wo Olympic Sports ern training techniques. In 1954 fifteen 1984 after an absence from the Olym- speed.” The new tactic is more effi- young swimmers were sent to the pics of over twenty years. Nineteen cient than the traditional “fast, fast, Swimming Sport University in Budapest to study swimmers from China competed, but fast,” “fast-slow,” and “slow-fast” tactics. for one and one-half years. The Chinese none of them finished among the top Consequently, Zhuang Yong won gold swimmers learned fast. Between 1957 twenty swimmers in the world. After medals in the women’s 100-meter and and 1960 the world record in the men’s the Games the coach of the German 200-meter freestyle, the 4 5 100-meter 100-meter breaststroke was broken Democratic Republic’s (East Germa- freestyle relay, and the 4 5 100-meter five times by QI Lieyun 戚烈云, MU ny’s) swimming team was invited to medley; Lin Li won the gold medal Xiangxiong 穆祥雄, and MO Guoxiong become the coach of the Chinese na- in the women’s 200-meter medley. 莫国雄. tional swimming team. He introduced Five Chinese became world-class In order to select and train elite swim- altitude training to Chinese swimmers swimmers. mers at home, in 1955 three elite swim- for the first time. One year later, at the sixth FINA World ming schools were founded, one each In 1982 China won three gold medals Championships, China won nine med- in Beijing, Tianjing, and Shanghai. Boys at the Ninth Asian Games. It was the als: four gold, four silver, and one and girls with swimming talent alter- first time that the Chinese swimming bronze. At the Twenty-fifth Olympic nated a half day of study with a half day team won gold medals at these games. Games in Barcelona in 1992, China of training in these schools. By 1965 However, Japan continued to dominate won four gold medals (see table 1) the number of such schools reached Asian swimming, and it was not until and five silver medals and broke two 1,800 with 150,000 young swimmers the Eleventh Asian Games in Beijing world records. At the seventh FINA and 3,000 full-time coaches. After sev- in 1990 that China won twenty-three World Championships in 1994, China 游 eral years of hard training many young gold medals in swimming and defeated won twelve gold medals and broke five 泳 swimmers grew into stars. Japan. world records. ● ● During the initial years of the Cultural In 1988 the third Asian Swimming In the late 1990s Chinese swimming Revolution (1966–1976) competitive Championships were held in Guang- suffered doping scandals that seriously sports were banned. However, China zhou. Yang Wenyi clocked the world’s damaged China’s reputation in the 61 rejoined the Asian Games in 1974 and best time of 25.28 seconds for the sports field. At the beginning of the participated in the swimming com- women’s 50-meter freestyle. That was twenty-first century, China has made petitions at the Seventh (1974) and only world record in swimming held by progress in the fight against doping in Eighth (1978) Asian Games. Despite an Asian at the time. sport, including swimming, announcing their training program Chinese swim- In 1990 the eleventh Asian Games that it planned to conduct more doping mers lagged behind athletes from other were held in Beijing. Some Chinese tests at the Beijing Olympic Games Asian countries, including Japan, Ko- swimmers used a tactic called “even than have been conducted at any other rea, Singapore, and the Philippines. In 1979 China renewed its seat in FINA. Table 1 n China’s Olympic Gold Medals in Individual Swimming Events In 1983 China’s International Invita- tional Swimming Tournament took Year City Athlete Event 2004 Athens Luo Xuejuan Women’s 100-meter breaststroke place in Guangxi Province. It was the 1992 Barcelona Zhuang Yong Women’s 100-meter freestyle first time in Chinese sports history that 1992 Barcelona Qian Hong Women’s 100-meter butterfly world-class swimmers from all over the 1992 Barcelona Lin Li Women’s 200-meter individual medley world swam in China. 1992 Barcelona Yang Wenyi Women’s 50-meter freestyle China participated in the Twenty-third 1996 Atlanta Le Jingyi Women’s 100-meter freestyle Olympic Games in Los Angeles in Source: Fédération Internationale de Natation.

奥运体育 2006, winning four gold medals and Swimming one silver. QI Hui 齐晖, the twenty-two- year-old veteran swimmer, who set the world record in 2002 and won three gold medals at the FINA World Short Course Championships in 2006, after failing to win a medal at the Olympics in 2004, was eager give her best performance in 2008 in breaststroke and individual medley events. The young swimmer WANG Qun 王群 shot to fame by defeating China’s breaststroke star Luo Xuejuan in the 100- meter event at the East Asian Games in Macao in 2005. She has given consis- Xuejuan Luo tent performances in recent interna- won gold in tional competitions, winning a silver the 100-meter breaststroke medal at the FINA Swimming World at the 2004 Cup in Berlin in 2006. Olympics. 游 Nevertheless, judging from the past 泳 Olympic swimming results, China’s ● ● Games — working around the clock and in Doha in 2006, is regarded as the main rivals in 2008 will be the United conducting 4,500 doping tests during most promising male swimmer who States and Australia (see tables 2–4). the Games. will compete at the Beijing Olympics. However, because the five-time Olym- 62 OUYANG Kunpeng 欧阳鲲鹏, China’s pic champion Ian Thorpe retired from Primed to Win number one backstroker and the Asian competitive swimming in 2006, Aus- The National Aquatics Center (NAC) record-holder in the 50-meter and tralia’s chance of beating the United provides a twenty-first-century venue 100-meter backstroke events, is also States seems slim. for the swimming events of the Twenty- expected to win a medal in 2008. Michael Phelps, the first American to ninth Olympic Games in Beijing, held China’s female swimmers gave their win eight medals in one Olympics at between 9 and 21 August 2008. Zhang best-ever performances at the FINA the 2004 Olympics in Athens, has been Yadong, the head coach of the Chi- World Short Course Championships in a likely flashpoint in swimming events nese swimming squad, has primed his

swimmers to swim for gold — and silver Table 2 n 004 Olympics Swimming Medal Tally and bronze medals, too. Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total The Chinese male swimmers have 1 United States 12 9 7 28 trained with confidence. WU Peng 吴 2 Australia 7 5 3 15 鹏, the silver medalist in the men’s 3 Japan 3 1 4 8 200-meter butterfly at the eleventh 4 Holland 2 3 2 7 FINA World Championships in 2005 5 Ukraine 2 0 1 3 and the gold medalist in the men’s 6 France 1 2 3 6 200-meter butterfly at the Asian Games Source: Fédération Internationale de Natation.

Part T wo Olympic Sports Table 3 n 000 Olympics Swimming Medal Tally 1990 Zhuang swept the gold medals in Swimming Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total the women’s 100-meter and 200-meter 1 United States 13 8 10 31 freestyle, the 4 5 100-meter freestyle re- 2 Australia 5 12 4 21 lay, and the 4 5 100-meter medley relay 3 Holland 5 1 2 8 at the Asian Games in Beijing. In 1991 4 Italy 3 1 2 6 she won a gold medal in the women’s 5 Ukraine 2 2 0 4 50-meter freestyle and silver in the 6 Romania 2 1 1 4 women’s 100-meter freestyle at the Source: Fédération Internationale de Natation. FINA World Swimming Championships. At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, in Beijing in 2008, expected to win Championships, she won the world Zhuang won a gold in the women’s the men’s 100-meter and 200-meter championship in the 50-meter breast- 100-meter freestyle, China’s first gold butterfly, the 200-meter freestyle, the stroke. As part of the team’s victory in medal in an Olympic swimming event. 200-meter and 400-meter medley, the the 4 5 100-meter medley relay in the She also won two silver medals in 4 5 100-meter and the 4 5 200-meter 2003 World Championship, she set the the women’s 50-meter freestyle and freestyle relay, and the 4 5 100-meter record for the fastest women’s breast- the 4 5 100-meter freestyle relay in medley relay. Phelps’s teammate, Aaron stroke relay split in history. She retired Barcelona. Peirsol, from California, is expected to from competitive swimming in 2007. YANG Wenyi 杨文意 was born in 1972 win the backstroke events in 2008. He in Shanghai. She began her training in ZHUANG Yong 庄泳 was born in 1972 游 won three gold medals in the men’s in Shanghai. She is one of the best fe- swimming at the Shanghai Sports Club 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke male swimmers in China. Like Luo she in 1978 and broke national records for 泳 and the 400-meter medley relay at the began her swimming training at the different age groups eighteen times at ● ● Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 and age of seven. She joined the Shanghai the beginning of the 1980s. She was broke the 200-meter backstroke world swimming team at the age of thirteen. selected as a member of the Shanghai record at the Montreal World Champi- At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Zhuang swimming team in 1984 and joined the 63 onships in Canada in 2006. won a silver medal in the women’s national team two years later. She won 100-meter freestyle. In 1989 she won a gold medal in the 50-meter freestyle China’s Modern Mermaids the 100-meter freestyle at the Pan at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. (and Mermen) Pacific Swimming Championships. In LUO Xuejuan 罗雪娟 was born in 1984 in Hangzhou. She was called the Table 4 n Most Capable Gold Medal Competitors in the 2008 Olympics “queen of the breaststroke.” She began swimming at the age of seven. In 1996 Event Male Athlete Female Athlete Medley Michael Phelps (United States) Yana Klochkova (Ukraine) Luo joined the Zhejiang provincial Katie Hoff (United States) swimming team. She then represented Freestyle Michael Phelps (United States) Jodie Henry (Australia) China at the 2004 Athens Olympic Roland Schoeman (South Africa) Lisbeth Lenton (Australia) Games and won a gold medal in the Crocker Ian (United States) 100-meter breaststroke, setting a new Breaststroke Kosuke Kitajima (Japan) Leisel Jones (Australia) Brooke Hanson (Australia) Olympic record of 1 minute 6.64 Backstroke Aaron Peirsol (United States) Natalie Coughlin (United States) seconds. She was the only Chinese Butterfly Michael Phelps (United States) Schipper Jessicah (Australia) swimmer to win a gold medal at Ian Crocker (United States) Lisbeth Lenton (Australia)

Athens. At the 2001 and 2003 World Source: Authors’ predictions.

奥运体育 Swimming The “Chinese Mermaid”

n the 1930s YANG Xiuqiong was widely ist government and the chief organizer of Iknown inside and outside China as the the Games, imitated an ancient Olympic “Chinese mermaid.” A national and inter tradition by driving her around Nanjing in national champion swimmer in several a chariot. Yang’s pictures and stories filled events, she was a popular role model for newspapers, magazines, posters, and illus- many women in the Nationalist Chinese trations. She became a national hero. republic. When the Sixth National Games were held Yang came from a peasant family in Yang- at Shanghai in October 1935, Yang broke four wua village, Dongwan county, Guangdong national swimming records and won two Province on the mainland. The village was gold medals. During her appearance, the in a region of rivers and lakes, and children price of a ticket increased twentyfold. If she learned to swim as soon as they could walk. did not appear in an event spectators asked Yang was no exception. She swam when she for a refund. As a matter of course, she was was only two years old. When she was ten selected as a member of China’s 1936 Olym- years old her father was employed as a life- pic team. Yang’s outstanding performances guard at the swimming pool of the Nanhua made the Chinese proud, while her beauty Sports Association in Hong Kong. Under his and her gentle demeanor made her a focus 游 supervision, Yang swam every day and her of male desire. Her success in sport helped swimming improved rapidly. to construct a new femininity — fit and 泳 ● ● Yang was a member of the Hong Kong swim- independent — which was radically differ- ming team when the Fifth National Games ent from the fragile and dependent women took place in October 1933 at Nanjing, the of the past. Yang was the perfect image of a modern woman for Nationalist China. 64 capital of the Nationalist government. She broke four national records and won five After she married in 1937, Yang retired from One of the most famous Chinese gold medals. CHU Minyi, the Minister of swimming. swimmers of the 1930s, Yang Xiuqiong changed the image of women in China. the Administration Council of the National- n FAN Hong and YAN Xuening

CHEN Yunpeng 陈运鹏 was born in nese team won four gold and five silver the mid-1980s. He was appointed as 1935. He devoted his life to Chinese medals in the Twenty-fifth Olympic the head coach of the Chinese national swimming. He was the national cham- Games Barcelona in 1992. He retired swimming squad after the Olympic pion in 100-meter butterfly and 200- in 1995 and then became a member of Games in Sydney in 2000. He became meter butterfly in the late 1950s and the World Swimming Coaches Associa- famous when Luo Xuejuan, under his early 1960s. He became a coach of the tion in 1998. coaching, became a world champion Chinese national swimming team in ZHANG Yadong 张亚东 was born in in 2001 and 2003 and an Olympic gold 1965 and was the head coach from 1981 Zhejiang Province in 1964. He gradu- medalist in 2004. to 1995. Under his coaching the Chi- ated from Beijing Sports University in n FAN Wei 樊维 and LU Zhouxiang 吕洲翔

Part T wo Olympic Sports They carved a ball from a champagne sport underwent a few changes in Eng- cork, and cut rackets from empty cigar land as a celluloid ball and a wooden Table Tennis Table Tennis boxes and later from parchment paper paddle with a pimpled rubber surface stretched around a frame. were introduced — the type of equip- 中 ment that Mr. Wang introduced to his Evolution of “Flim-flam” customers in Shanghai in 1904. In the beginning the game was called The rules and equipment have changed “gossima,” “flim-flam,” or “ping-pong.” drastically as table tennis has achieved The words, as can be assumed, were more widespread popularity and then 国 derived from the sound that the ball became an organized competitive made when hit back and forth on the sport. table and rackets. In 1901 English In 1926 the International Table Tennis manufacturer J. Jaques & Son reg- Federation (ITTF) was founded in Ber- istered one of the names for table lin by England, Sweden, Hungary, India, tennis — Ping-Pong — and sold this 金乒乓球 Denmark, Germany, Czechoslovakia, trademark to the Parker Brothers in the Austria, and Wales. A year later, the United States. ITTF established the first official world 乒 In 1904 WANG Daoping 王道平, During the early 1900s, the table tennis championship and table tennis began manager of a stationery shop in Shang- racket had a long handle and a pear- to be adopted in Japan and other Asian 乓 hai, bought equipment from Japan for shaped hitting surface, making it look countries as a serious competitive a new indoor game. He demonstrated like a small-size tennis racket. Around sport, one in which they have excelled. 球 ● ● ● the game — a kind of tennis — in or- the turn of the twentieth century, the The Japanese dominated the sport in der to sell the tables, nets, balls, and rackets. This was the beginning of table 65 tennis in China. Though table tennis is widely associated with Asian nations today, Japa- nese and Chinese dominance in the sport did not become obvious until the 1950s when they began winning tournaments using the supposedly outdated penhold grip (European players had moved on to the shakehand grip). But the game originated on the other side of the globe. At a house party some- where in Victorian England — where parlor games were an important part of social life — someone decided to turn the dining room table into a miniature version of the traditional lawn tennis court. The players are said to have used A coach instructs players in proper a line of books to serve as the net. service technique.

奥运体育 Table Tennis Ping-Pong Diplomacy: The “Ping” Heard Round the World

ight years before China rejoined the threat than the United States, decided that deputy assistant secretary of state for East EInternational Olympic Committee in improved relations with the United States Asian affairs. explains, “Ping-Pong showed 1979, the sound of a small hollow plastic would increase China’s international secu- how sports can be a political signaling ball hitting a green table — the “ping heard rity as well as stature. Meanwhile, President device, a way to reach out to other na- round the world,” as Time magazine put Richard M. Nixon believed that ties with the tions without a full commitment from the it — signaled a turning point in U.S.-China People’s Republic would counterbalance the government.” relations, and the beginning of China’s re- Soviet Union, improve Nixon’s own political Naturally, the Americans reciprocated by opening to the rest of the world. standing at home, and improve the United inviting their Chinese opponents to visit That famous “ping” sounded in April 1971, States’ position in the Vietnam War. In 1970, the United States. In this case, the Na- when the U.S. table tennis team, visiting the Chinese offered to arrange a high-level tional Committee on U.S.-China Relations Nagoya, Japan, for the World Table Ten- meeting, and that offer led eventually to na- (NCUSCR) stepped in to organize, along nis Championship, was invited to visit the tional security adviser Henry A. Kissinger’s with the U.S. Table Tennis Association, what People’s Republic of China and given per- visit to Beijing in July 1971. became a huge media event, broadcast mission to go by the U.S. government, which In any event, it was the young American by major news outlets and publicized in had broken relations twenty-two years and Chinese table tennis players, many magazines as diverse as Life and Seventeen. 乒 earlier. While the invitation was ostensi- of them teenagers, who changed the way The teams traveled on one charter plane; bly a spontaneous gesture by lively young ordinary people in their countries thought another plane was needed for reporters and 乓 athletes — who exchanged gifts, in Chi- about so-called Communist China and the camera people. The theme was “friendship nese fashion, that included a T-shirt with a “decadent, imperialistic” United States. The first, competition second,” and although the 球

● ● ● red-white-and-blue peace emblem and the team was treated royally. According to U.S. Chinese players completely dominated the words “Let It Be” — historians now agree team member Tim Boggan, they were some- matches, somehow U.S. players managed to that it was quietly countenanced by the Chi- times offered five meals a day: “no Ming win surprise victories when the tour landed nese government. emperor was treated so well.” This “people- in their hometowns. Ticket prices were kept 66 The U.S. team’s visit to China took place to-people” exchange, which was extolled very low so everyone could attend — an three months later, in July, and Chinese by the press and by both governments, approach the 2008 Olympics organizers also Premier ZHOU Enlai was quoted as saying, provided President Nixon with a backdrop took in order to ensure that Chinese people “Never before in history has a sport been for the major diplomatic shift that was in would see the Games for themselves. used so effectively as a tool of international progress. During the team’s visit, the United The Chinese ping-pong players were diplomacy.” States announced the end of a twenty-year able, engaging representatives of their trade embargo against the People’s Repub- country — which was then referred to by While the exchange was spontaneous, it lic, Nixon himself went to Beijing from 20 to came about during a period of changing alli- many Americans as “Red China.” The team’s 27 February 1972, the first visit by an Ameri- escorts, some of whom were undoubtedly ances. After the Soviet invasion of Czecho- can president to China. slovakia in 1968, MAO Zedong and Zhou intelligence officers, let all the matches con- Enlai, seeing the USSR was a more potent Richard Solomon, now president of the tinue in spite of some rowdy protests that United States Institute of Peace and then

the 1950s and 1960s. The Chinese had Sweden and South Korea have also Ping-Pong’s Early Days their turn in the 1960s and 1970s. As joined the game’s top ranks, but in In 1925, before the international associ- table tennis became an Olympic event many people’s minds Ping-Pong re- ation was founded, several table tennis in the 1980s, other nations such as mains strongly associated with China. competitions took place in Shanghai.

Part T wo Olympic Sports Ping-Pong Diplomacy: The “Ping” Heard Round the World Table Tennis

乒乓 President Richard Nixon, 球

who led the effort to ● ● ● renew U.S. ties with China, meets with the Chinese Ping-Pong team. 67 they clearly would have liked to have seen Instead of operating at the elite policy Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), stopped. or academic level, efforts like Ping-Pong was quoted in the Chinese press as saying, Throughout the 1980s, there were many diplomacy bring international relations “Meetings between leaders have to be rein- athletic exchanges that introduced Chinese into venues that attract ordinary citizens forced by people-to-people contacts, which athletes to huge U.S. audiences across the and create interest in the popular media. are the best way to rid mutual suspicion and country, as well as trips to China by U.S. ath- Indeed, beyond gold medals, the Olympics keep the diplomatic momentum moving letes, organized by the National Committee for China are about the kind of people-to- forward.” As Chen put it, these efforts are, on U.S.-China Relations along with Ameri- people relationship building that was at the “about the attraction of your culture and the can athletic associations and their Chinese center of Ping-Pong diplomacy. Before the image you leave in the hearts of foreigners.” counterparts — all in the spirit of “friend- Beijing Olympics, CHEN Haosu, president n Karen Christensen ship before competition.” of the Chinese People’s Association for

Two years later, the Chinese national Between 1937 and 1949 development of ing of the People’s Republic of China team participated in the Eighth Far table tennis in China slowed down its (PRC) in 1949 did table tennis enjoy a Eastern Championship Games in pace because of World War II and the rebirth. In 1952 the first National Table Shanghai but failed to win any medals. Chinese Civil War. Only after the found- Tennis Championships took place

奥运体育 in Beijing, where sixty-two athletes Ping-Pong’s Importance Table 1 n Medal Tally in Olympic Table Table Tennis competed for the medals. In the same Perhaps “Ping-Pong diplomacy” can Tennis Events, 1988–2004 year the Chinese National Table Tennis explain why table tennis held such an Year Host City Gold Silver Bronze Federation became an official member important place in China during the 1988 Seoul 2 (out of 4) 2 1 of the ITTF, beginning a new era for 1970s. The era of Ping-Pong diplomacy 1992 Barcelona 3 (out of 4) 2 1 Chinese table tennis. 乒乓外交 began in 1971 when the 1996 Atlanta 4 (out of 4) 3 1 2000 Sydney 4 (out of 4) 3 1 United States table tennis team, which The National Table Tennis Team was 2004 Athens 3 (out of 4) 1 2 founded in 1953 and soon after par- was participating in the Thirty-first ticipated in the World Table Tennis World Table Tennis Championships in Source: International Olympic Committee’s website. Championships. In 1959 Chinese player Nagoya, Japan, received an invitation RONG Guotuan 容国团 won the men’s from the Chinese team to visit the Peo- the world. In 2008 they must stay singles gold medal at the World Table ple’s Republic of China. MAO Zedong, cautious and play their own game, Tennis Championships in Dortmund, chairman of China’s Communist Party, although there seem to be no rivals West Germany. This achievement was believed that by opening a door to capable enough to challenge the a landmark in Chinese table tennis the United States, China could put its dominance of China (see table 2). history. Two years later, at the World hostile neighbors, notably the U.S.S.R., Table Tennis Championships in Beijing, on notice about a possible shift in alli- ances. The United States welcomed the 乒 China swept the gold medals in the Table 2 n ITTF Top Ten Rankings (2007) men’s singles, women’s singles, and opportunity. President Richard Nixon Rank Name Country 乓 men’s team events. By 2002, its fifti- secretly sent Secretary of State Henry eth anniversary, the Chinese National Kissinger to Beijing to arrange a presi- n Top Men 球 1 Ma Lin China ● ● ● Table Tennis Team had won 125 world dential visit to China. Nixon’s journey 2 Wang Liqin China seven months later, in February 1972, championship titles, sweeping all the 3 Boll, Timo Germany table tennis gold medals three times at became one of the most important 4 Wang Hao China 68 the Table Tennis World Cups and twice events in U.S. postwar history. “Never 5 Oh Sang Eun Korea at the Olympic Games. before in history has a sport been used 6 Samsonov, Vladimir Belarus In 1995 the Chinese Professional Table so effectively as a tool of international 7 Chen Qi China Tennis League was established. This diplomacy,” said Chinese premier 8 Ma Long China 9 Ryu Seung Min Korea nationwide league was divided into ZHOU Enlai. For Nixon it was “the week 10 Hao Shuai China three divisions: Division 1 was the that changed the world.” Super League. Division 2 was Jia A, n Top Women Olympic Leaders and Division 3 was Jia B (jia 甲 being a 1 Zhang Yining China Chinese word for “top” or “first”). The In terms of international competition, 2 Wang Nan China 3 Guo Yan China Super League consists of the best play- table tennis is the sport that has never disappointed the Chinese. China has 4 Guo Yue China ers in China. The Chinese Professional 5 Li Xiaoxia China dominated all major table tennis Table Tennis League has attracted 6 Tie Yana Hong Kong countless table tennis fans and has competitions and shows no signs of 7 Li Jia Wei Singapore played an important role in the pro- letting up. Since 1988 China has won 8 Wang Yue Gu Singapore motion of both the athletic sport and sixteen Olympic gold medals out of 9 Niu Jianfeng China sport for all in China. twenty (see table 1). As the defending 10 Jiang Huajun Hong Kong champions, Chinese players have been Source: International Table Tennis Federation. well studied by all their rivals around

Part T wo Olympic Sports In the men’s singles, German player nis players in the world. She won four Athletes Commission and the deputy Timo Boll may be a rival to China’s Ma Olympic gold medals and was a partici- head of the Olympic Village in Beijing. Table Tennis Lin and Wang Liqin. In the women’s pant, individually or as a team member, KONG Linghui 孔令辉 (b. 1975) is one singles, the final competition would be in ten World Table Tennis Champion- of the outstanding male players in between Wang Nan and Zhang Yining. ships titles. Between 1991 and 1998 she Chinese table tennis history. In 1995 he The ITTF announced plans to replace was ranked the number one woman won a gold medal in the men’s singles the doubles events with the team player in the world. After retirement in competition at the Table Tennis World competitions at the 2008 Olympics to 1998, Deng Yaping enrolled in Tsinghua Cup in France. At the 1996 Olympics in make the matches more exciting — and University in Beijing. After graduat- Atlanta, Kong claimed men’s doubles perhaps to set some limits on the table ing from Tsinghua, she went to study gold with teammate LIU Guoliang. At tennis superpower, China. for her master’s degree in Loughbor- the 1997 World Table Tennis Champi- ough University in England. She is now onships in Manchester, England, Kong Paddle Powerhouses studying for her PhD degree at Cam- was the champion in the men’s doubles bridge University. She is a member of DENG Yaping (b. 1973), the competition, again teamed with Liu 邓亚萍 the International Olympic Committee “Table Tennis Queen,” is considered Guoliang. In 2000 Kong claimed the to be one of the best female table ten- gold in the men’s singles and the silver 乒乓球 ● ● ●

Table tennis remains one of China’s dominant sports.

奥运体育 in the men’s doubles events at the Syd- Table Tennis Open. The next year she nis World Cup. Two years later, he won Table Tennis ney Olympic Games. He is one of the was selected for the national team and the gold medal in the men’s singles three players in the world to complete began to represent China at important and men’s doubles (with Kong Linghui) a table tennis grand slam by winning competitions, such as the World Table at the Atlanta Olympics. Liu Guoliang the World Table Tennis Championships, Tennis Championships, the Women’s is China’s first table tennis player to the Table Tennis World Cup, and the Table Tennis World Cup, and the Olym- make a clean sweep of all titles at ma- Olympic singles titles. pic Games. From 1997 to 1998, she won jor world tournaments, including the WANG Liqin 王励勤 (b. 1978) joined the championships in women’s singles World Table Tennis Championships, Ta- the national team in 1993 when he was at the Women’s Table Tennis World ble Tennis World Cup and the Olympic only fifteen years old. Wang’s style is Cup twice as well as the China Open. Games. After retirement in 2002, Liu probably best described as a strong At the 1998 Asian Games in Bang- became a coach of the national men’s forehand and backhand looper. His kok, Wang won all four gold medals team and a student at Shanghai Jiao above-average height allows him ad- (singles, doubles, mixed doubles, and Tong University. He was appointed the ditional leverage for acceleration and women teams). At the 2000 Olympics director of the coaching and research momentum, creating more powerful in Sydney, she won two gold medals in group as well as the head coach of the shots. Wang won his first World Table singles and doubles. Her record made national men’s team in 2003. Tennis Championships in Osaka, Japan, her a grand slam champion. In the 2004 CAI Zhenhua 蔡振华 (b. 1961) is gener- 乒 in 2001. In 2005 he again became the Olympic Games, she failed to retain ally considered one of the best coaches champion at the World Table Tennis her singles crown but won the women’s that China has ever produced. Cai was 乓 Championships in Shanghai, China. doubles with Zhang Yining. an international player in the 1970s. He 球 Wang won the gold medal in doubles ZHANG Yining 张怡宁 (b. 1981) is Chi- won his first international title at age of ● ● ● at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and na’s most promising player in women’s twenty and later finished first in three the bronze medal in singles at the 2004 singles competion. Zhang participated other world-class competitions be- Olympics in Athens. For most of the in the 2004 Olympics in Athens and fore becoming a coach of the Chinese 70 year in 2005, 2006, and 2007, he was won gold in both singles and doubles national team at the age of twenty- ranked number one among the world’s with partner Wang Nan. In May 2007 four. Under Cai’s successful guidance, male table tennis players. Zhang was ranked number one in the the Chinese table tennis team swept WANG Nan 王楠 (b. 1978) began to ITTF in both women’s singles and the board, taking the gold medals in play table tennis when she was seven women’s doubles. the men’s, women’s and mixed events years old. Her particular skills are her LIU Guoliang 刘国梁 (b. 1976) started at the world championships and ability to change the placement of the playing table tennis at the age of six. the Olympics in the 1990s and early ball during rallies and her loop drive as He joined the national team in 1991. In twenty-first century. well as her notable speed. In 1994 Nan 1994 Liu Guoliang won the gold medal n HU Xiaoming 胡小明 won the women’s singles at the Sweden in the men’s singles at the Table Ten-

Part T wo Olympic Sports Players hit the ball back and forth Hirofumi Daimatsu, who was referred across the court net to keep the ball to as the “demon coach” for his strict Volleyball Volleyball from touching the ground. It first discipline and the unrelenting condi- spread through the United States, tioning drills that he put his players 中 arrived in Asia in 1900, and reached through. Although Japanese female China in 1905. Only later, in 1917, did it volleyball players were physically small, get to Europe, where it grew in popu- they won gold medals in the 1962 larity throughout the 1920s, particularly World Women’s Volleyball Champion- in France. ship and the 1964 Olympic Games with 国 The Chinese volleyball team partici- their flexibility, indomitable spirit, and pated in the Far Eastern Championship special style. They dominated world Games in the 1920s and 1930s and was women’s volleyball for more than ten one of the strongest teams in Asia. years. The Soviets, too, became interested in 金排球 volleyball, and the Soviets and their cli- Volleyball’s Global Appeal ent states were to become, with Japan, With the establishment of its governing major competitive players. body, the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), in 1947, volleyball be- olleyball like its cousin During World War II the number of V — , came an organized international sport. basketball — was introduced in China players on a side decreased from six- The first World Men’s Volleyball Cham- 排 just years after being created in Mas- teen or nineteen to six. After the war pionship was staged in 1947, and the sachusetts. The reason is simple: both Europeans and Americans dominated 球 first World Women’s Volleyball Cham- ● ● were the inspiration of physical educa- international volleyball. Later Japanese women’s volleyball created the “Japa- pionship in 1952, but it wasn’t until tion instructors at the Young Men’s 1964 that volleyball became an official nese legend” under the coaching of Christian Association (YMCA), an 71 international organization that had become established in a number of major Chinese cities. Beach Volleyball Takes Hold William G. Morgan, the director of physical education at the YMCA in each volleyball is similar to indoor attended the first official beach volleyball Holyoke, Massachusetts, invented vol- Bvolleyball in its structure and rules event at Sorrento Beach in Los Angeles. leyball (which he called “Mintonette”) of play. However, unlike indoor volleyball, During the 1990s the Federation Internatio- in 1895. His intention was to create a beach volleyball has no coaches to facilitate nale de Volleyball (FIVB), with 214 national simple, enjoyable indoor winter game play, and a player has only one teammate to federations, began to govern international to supplement what was otherwise an rely on. beach volleyball and volleyball. The FIVB austere round of gymnastics-based Beach volleyball — an Olympic sport since World Tour, formerly known as the “World physical conditioning exercises that 1994 — began during the 1920s on the Championship Series,” is the official international tour. The World Tour grew quickly were the lot of physical education beaches of southern California and Europe. since it began in 1992, and the groundwork students during the cold New Eng- By the 1950s and 1960s tournaments were held in the United States, Brazil, Canada, for this growth was laid in the sands of land winter. Volleyball spread quickly sunny southern California. because it featured clear and intuitively and France, and in other parts of Europe. During the 1960s President John F. Kennedy n Kristine Drakich appealing goals.

奥运体育 Olympic event in the Eighteenth Volleyball Olympic Games at Tokyo. Volleyball, soccer, and basketball are the top three ball games in the world. As the only net sport of the three, volleyball is thought to have more of a sense of cooperation and even serenity, compared with intense rivalry of soccer and basketball. By 1997 the FIVB had become the biggest single sport organization, with members from more than 200 countries and regions, and the number of volleyball participants exceeding 150 million. Volleyball has become a popular sport with more than 800 million regular spectators, second only to soc- 排 cer. (The color of the ball has 球 changed from the original white ● ● to a vivid combination of blue, yellow, and white, perhaps giving those spectators a better view of 72 the action.) Today women’s volleyball teams throughout the world embrace a variety of techniques and playing styles. Asian women’s volleyball, represented by the Chinese and Japanese teams, is best known for its speed. Teams work around advantages their opponents might have in height and strength and defeat them with quick and flexible attacks. European women’s volleyball, represented by the Russian team, A member of generally adopts a traditional China’s men’s system of offense, noted for its volleyball team attempts to get high tosses and high spikes. the ball past Because the players are tall and two defenders.

Part T wo Olympic Sports physically strong, strong attacks are an important role in promoting the de- that they marched to the Gate of the the easiest way to gain points. Wom- velopment of world volleyball. Heavenly Peace, during which they Volleyball en’s volleyball in the Americas, repre- In 1964 Chinese Prime Minister ZHOU shouted the slogan, “Let’s unite and sented by the Brazilian team, adopts Enlai 周恩来 invited Japanese coach develop China!” The victories in vol- an overall tactic combining Asian and Hirofumi Daimatsu to China to train leyball games helped push forward European characteristics, with an em- the Chinese national teams for one China’s opening up to the world and phasis on strong attacks assisted by month, during which time the Chinese inspired the Chinese to conduct their their quickness. The combination of, learned techniques used in Japan. reforms with more confidence. and confrontation between, different When the Third World Cup Volleyball During the late 1980s and into the volleyball techniques makes the com- 1990s, the Chinese men’s and women’s petitions exciting for spectators. Tournament was held in Tokyo in 1981, the Chinese women’s volleyball team, volleyball teams suffered one setback Men’s volleyball games may be less with its flexible offense and strong after another and even lost their domi- nuanced but the strength of men play- defense, was called the “Wall of the nant positions in the Asian Games. In ers and the fast pace of the game also Tian’anmen” and became the cham- 1996 the professional league system appeal to spectators. In men’s volley- pion. This victory began an upsurge was introduced into volleyball games ball the European and U.S. teams enjoy of interest in volleyball in China and in China, which turned out to be help- absolute supremacy. ushered in a new “Chinese era” in ful in reversing the downward trend. world volleyball. Under the guidance The Chinese women’s volleyball team Volleyball in China finished second in the 1996 Atlanta of YUAN Weimin 袁伟民 and headed 排 In 1950 the Chinese team participated by the ace spiker LANG Ping 朗平, the Olympic Games and first in the 2003 in a six-player-based international Chinese women’s volleyball team swept World Cup Volleyball Tournament, then 球 game for the first time. The team four more world titles: the 1982 World won the gold medal in the 2004 Athens ● ● adapted the “quick spike” tactic from Women’s Volleyball Championship, Olympic Games with a win over its the former nine-player game to the new 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, strong Russian opponent. six-player game and invented a set of 1985 World Cup Volleyball Tournament, The Chinese men’s volleyball team 73 quick-attack cloak tactics centered on and 1986 World Women’s Volleyball experienced similar success, reclaim- these quick spikes. The Chinese tactic Championship. ing the gold medal in the 1997 Asian of quick offense created a new style During the 1980s the Chinese women’s Volleyball Championship. Both the in world volleyball, mainly relying on volleyball team’s spirit and success in Chinese men’s and women’s volleyball strong-attack and individual-attack winning five world titles in succession teams won the Asian Games in 1998. tactics. During the 1956 Paris Volley- were the best example of the strong ball World Championship, the Chi- will of the Chinese people to excel and Volleyball Resurgence nese men’s volleyball team created a build their country. On 20 March 1981, The history of the Chinese women’s furor with its quick spikes, which were at a preliminary match of the Asian volleyball team in the twentieth cen- dubbed “acrobatic tactics.” Later, as district for the World Cup Volleyball tury and the success of the current volleyball rules changed, the Chi- Tournament, the Chinese men’s vol- team have once again aroused the Chi- nese men’s volleyball team created a leyball team turned the tables on its nese people’s enthusiasm for the sport. technique of blocking that resembled opponent, beating the South Korean In international competitions, there is the action of “putting on a cap” and a team 3–2, and qualified for the World the exciting prospect of Lang Ping, the technique of spiking called the “open Cup Volleyball Tournament matches. head coach of the U.S. women’s volley- spike.” The team’s new tactics played On hearing the good news, students of ball team, and CHEN Zhonghe 陈忠和, Beijing University became so excited the head coach of the Chinese women’s

奥运体育 volleyball team who was Lang Ping’s and Sports Commission and the chair- critical situations, Lang Ping was the Volleyball assistant coach when Lang coached man of the Asian Volleyball Confedera- most effective strong-attack breaker for the Chinese women’s team, meeting at tion. Yuan Weimin’s tactics of using full the Chinese women’s volleyball team. the Olympics and at other volleyball offense and full defense and combining The ability of Lang Ping and her team- competitions. The Chinese also hope height and speed, swiftness and flex- mates to hold and defend represented for another period of success by the ibility became the trend in volleyball at the first “full-offense and full-defense” men’s volleyball team. that time. strategy in the history of women’s “Iron Hammer” 铁榔头 Lang Ping volleyball. Playing for China — was the best representative of Yuan After her retirement in 1985, Lang Ping Coaching for the U.S.A. Weimin’s tactics. In her performance became a student at the Beijing Nor- The legendary coach Yuan Weimin on the court, the element of height mal University. In 1987 she moved to joined the Chinese national volleyball in the tactic of combining height and the United States, where she contin- team as a primary setter in 1962. After speed was fully demonstrated. Before ued her studies at New Mexico State his retirement as a player, he became Lang Ping joined the Chinese women’s University and received her master’s head coach of the Chinese national volleyball team, the team had boasted degree in sports management. She women’s volleyball team. Under his the fastest and most comprehensive coached the Chinese women’s vol- coaching, the Chinese women’s vol- offensive system in the world. The only leyball team and the Italian women’s leyball team won gold medals at the element lacking was the ability to gain volleyball team after her graduation. World Cup in 1981, the World Cham- points in counterattacks and dead- She became the head coach of the U.S. 排 pionship in 1982, and the Olympic locks. With her ability to make strong women’s volleyball team in 2005. Games in 1984. Later he became the attacks during deadlocks or counterat- 球 n ZHANG Ling 张玲 ● ● minister of the State Physical Culture tacks and her steady performance in

Part T wo Olympic Sports of water polo rules for indoor swim- former Yugoslavia), the United States, W

ming pools in 1870. The early rubber Canada, and Australia — and in recent ater Polo Water Polo balls used for the game came from In- Olympic Games China has been a sig- dia and were named pulu — the Indian nificant presence. 中 word for ball. So the sport came to be Water polo was the first team sport known as “water polo.” added to the Olympic program, in The Scots added goalposts to the game 1900, and women’s water polo made in 1877 and replaced the rubber ball its first showing in 2000. The Fédéra- with a soccer ball. They also trans- tion Internationals de Natation Ama- 国 formed it into more of a competitive teur (FINA) was founded in 1908; it has sport by establishing additional rules, been the international governing body which mandated that the ball stay on for the sport since that time. the surface and that the players could not be tackled unless they had the ball. Colonial Development 金水球 The Scottish version of the game be- After the first Opium War (1840–1842), came popular in England and Europe Hong Kong became a colony of Eng- in the late 1800s. Modern water polo land. The English brought competitive is played with teams of seven players, Water polo is one of the world’s swimming and water polo to their new using a water polo ball made of water- more diversely conceived sports. It is colony, but until 1930, only English proof nylon. 水 thought to have originated in lakes and residents could participate in events. rivers of England in the mid-1800s as Water polo is now popular around Nonetheless, in 1924, local Chinese 球 ● ● an adaptation of rugby. The London the world — in Europe (particularly in built several swimming pools, allowing Swimming Association designed a set Hungary, Greece, Italy, Russia, and the them to play water polo, and by 1928 the sport had spread to the mainland of China. 75 In 1929 the Hong Kong and Macao Aquatic Games were held in Guangzhou, the entry city to mainland China and the Pearl River Delta. Before the games the Singapore water

China’s men’s water polo team.

奥运体育 polo team had visited Hong Kong and Table 1 n Olympic Games Water Polo Medal Winners — Men, 1988–2004 W

ater Polo Guangzhou, providing examples of City Year Gold Silver Bronze “pass,” “shot,” and “move” techniques. Athens 2004 Hungary Serbia-Montenegro Russia The Singapore team was the first for- Sydney 2000 Hungary Russia Yugoslavia eign water polo team to visit China. Atlanta 1996 Spain Croatia Italy In 1930 the Zhongshan University and Barcelona 1992 Italy Spain USSR Yuexiu District water polo teams were Seoul 1988 SFR Yugoslavia United States USSR founded. They later competed with water polo teams from Hong Kong. Table 2 n FINA Water Polo World League Medal Winners — Men, 2002–2007 City Year Gold Silver Bronze In 1931 the Guangzhou Water Polo Berlin 2007 Serbia Hungary Australia Championships were held. This event Athens 2006 Serbia-Montenegro Spain Greece was the first formal water polo cham- Belgrade, Serbia 2005 Serbia-Montenegro Hungary Germany pionship held in mainland China. After Long Beach 2004 Hungary Serbia-Montenegro Greece the championships elite athletes were New York 2003 Hungary Italy United States chosen to form the new Guangzhou wa- Patras, Greece 2002 Russia Spain Hungary ter polo team. Between 1932 and 1937, water polo boomed in Guangzhou; dozens of water polo teams were formed, However, in the 1980s the development Twelve men’s teams and eight women’s and tournaments were held frequently. of the game in China slowed down due teams qualified for the Beijing Olym- 水 But as the Japanese troops invaded to the expense of maintaining water pics, with China the representative of polo teams. Many provincial teams the Asian continent. Based on past 球 China in 1937, war put an end to this ● ● and other recreational activities. were disbanded. China then fell behind performances in the Olympic Games other Asian countries. It was not until and the FINA Water Polo World League After World War II, water polo started 2000 that women’s water polo started (see tables 1–4), Hungary and Serbia up again, first in Guangzhou, and then 76 to develop, and the national team were among the favorites in men’s in other big cities, such as Beijing, was formed in the hope that China water polo, while Italy and the United Tianjin, and Shanghai. By 1959, ten would win a medal in the 2008 Olym- States were considered favorites in years after the People’s Republic of pic Games in Beijing. Since then, the women’s competition. China (PRC) was founded, the First women’s team has played in the 2006 n Fan Wei 樊维 and Lu Zhouxiang 吕洲翔 National Games were held in Beijing and 2006 World Championships. and nine teams participated in the water polo events. From then on water Table 3 n Olympic Games Water Polo Medal Winners — Women, 2000–2004 polo became a formal sports event in China. Due to the great famine in the City Year Gold Silver Bronze early 1960s, local governments were Athens 2004 Italy Greece United States Sydney 2000 Australia United States Russia unable to support the training of water

polo teams; competitions and training Table 4 n FINA Water Polo World League Medal Winners — Women, 2004–2007 stopped between 1961 and 1962. City Year Gold Silver Bronze Since 1973 water polo has begun to Montreal 2007 United States Australia Greece develop again in China. The national Athens 2006 United States Italy Russia team swept the gold medals at the Kirishi, Russia 2005 Greece Russia Australia Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Asian Games. Long Beach 2004 United States Hungary Italy

Part T wo Olympic Sports P art T hree

The World of Sports 体育大世界

he Olympics are larger than life, but the values and aspirations we celebrate every four years (and in between at the T Winter Games) are part of our daily lives, too. Sports reflect our ideas about achievement, community, competition, fairness, and equality. The popularity of different sports and the way they have spread around the world helps us to understand different cultures and see how nations have influenced one another. Martial arts are not only practiced in Asia but they have developed into sophisticated forms there and then spread around the world. Women have made enormous strides in sport since the founder of the modern Games said, “Women have but one task, that of crowning the winner with garlands,” but in every country this development has taken a different shape. This section of China Gold explains some of the unique aspects of sports in the Middle or Central Kingdom 中国, which include not only the picturesque practices of tai chi but also “disco dancing” (popular with the elderly), the growing popularity of extreme sports, and even luxury Western sports like golf. promote mass sports activities on an based on people’s own preferences Tai Chi in the Park: Is It a Sport? extensive scale, improve the people’s and requirements. People can exercise Tai Chi in health, and spur the socialist modern- alone or play games with partners or ization of China. join in group exercises. Qigong, tai chi, 中the Park: The government has established fit- disco dancing, yangge, and shuttlecock ness programs, built fitness paths in kicking are the main forms of exercise Is It a Sport? neighborhoods, and conducted fitness available to urban Chinese in parks. tests and surveys nationwide. As a Qigong 气功 is a unique Chinese indi- result fitness exercising has boomed in vidual exercise. Through their efforts 这国 Chinese cities. The most popular and practitioners build up their health and 是 lively spaces to exercise are city parks prevent illness by combining disci- in the morning. plines of the mind, the body, and 什这是什么体 the body’s vital force (qi). There are Parks Are Popular currently more than 3,300 different 么金育项目 Chinese parks are mostly located in styles and schools of qigong. The prac- 体 the inner city, where the transportation tice relies on the traditional Chinese system makes travel convenient. En- belief that the body has something 育 that might be described as an “energy Foreign visitors to the Beijing trance tickets to parks are cheap; some field” generated and maintained by the Olympics, and visitors to China at any are even free. Chinese people believe 项 natural respiration of the body, known time who wake up early in the morn- the air in the early morning is freshest as qi, which means “breath” 息 or “gas” 目 ing and go out to explore, will see in parks. The relatively larger spaces ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 气 in Chinese. The energy produced by people in China’s city parks engaging and natural environments that parks breathing keeps us alive. Gong signi- in unfamiliar physical activities. They offer are attractive factors to exercis- fies work applied to a discipline or the might ask themselves, “Is that a sport?” ers. The sports and exercise activities 78 resultant level of technique. Qigong is The answer is, “Maybe yes, maybe no.” in parks are diverse and substantially then “breath work” or the art of manag- Some of these activities — such as Chinese folk dance, yangge 秧歌, and shuttlecock kicking, ti jian zi 踢毽 — are traditional, while others such as disco The World of Asian Dance dancing are modern; all have special Chinese characteristics. Some include tyles of dance vary from culture to the legs glide in a low level over the ground. a degree of competition — a feature of Sculture. Around the globe, identifi- The overall movement quality is multi- all Western sports — and all require able characteristics may be associated with focused, with a bound (or controlled) flow skill, though not necessarily strength. individual cultures. Traditional Asian dance, and a light use of weight. The arms, fingers, for example, has remained closely linked hands, and eyes perform subtle and expres- Since the 1990s Chinese people have with worship, and generally has adhered to sive movements, while stylized facial ex- begun to pay more attention to the ancient forms and legends in its choreogra- pressions are utilized. In most Asian dance health and fitness of their bodies. To phy, costumes, and musical accompaniment. forms, one finds a distinction between more meet people’s demands for sports and Characteristics of Asian dance movement vigorous and athletic dancing for males, exercise at the grassroots level, the include a fluid body stance, with a flexible and more confined and subtle dancing for Chinese government in 1995 estab- use of the spine. The hips, rib cage, head, females. lished the National Fitness Program and shoulders shift from side to side, while n Helen Myers (NFP) 全民健身计划, which aims to

Part Three The World of Sports ing one’s breathing in order to achieve and maintain good health, and (espe- Tai Chi in the Park: Is It a Sport? cially in the martial arts) to enhance the energy mobilization and stamina of the body in coordination with the physical process of respiration. Qigong is mostly taught for health maintenance purposes, but there are also some who teach it as a therapeutic intervention. Various forms of traditional qigong are 这 also widely taught in conjunction with Chinese martial arts. 是 Since the sixteenth century Chinese 什 people have performed tai chi to keep their bodies in good condition and to 么 prevent or heal diseases. Tai chi 太体极 is also known as tai chi chuan 太极拳, a Chinese form of exercise derived 育 from Daoism 道教, one of China’s oldest belief systems. The practice of tai 项 chi chuan is beneficial to health and 目 it is also a subtle, sophisticated, and ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● scientific method of self-defense. Since this system of exercise is suitable for people of all ages and requires little or 79 no special equipment, it has gained an enthusiastic reception nationwide. Tai chi’s training forms are well known as A man practices tai chi in the the slow motion routines that groups morning on the of people practice together every morn- grounds of the ing in parks in Chinese cities. Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The movements of both qigong and tai chi are slow and floating in a continuous way. The main goal of both is to jazz using hip-swiveling and shoulder- and peasants, especially people age keep the body in peace and harmony. rolling movements, with hand-clapping sixty and older. “Old people’s disco” and cross steps included. Because 老年迪斯科 is said to be one of the Compared with these traditional ex- disco dancing originated in the West, “three hots” 三大热潮 or biggest crazes ercises, disco dancing, being more it is also perceived as having a modern in China along with tai chi and qigong. vigorous, exciting, and simple, emerged rhythm, an alternative to traditional It was reported that in Shanghai over in the 1980s as a new fitness activity. consciousness. 100,000 people participate in disco Unlike qigong and tai chi, it features Starting as a craze among intellectu- dancing, and in almost every Beijing music and requires no special skill. park in the early morning hours people Disco resembles aerobic dance or als, it became popular among workers

体育大世界 gathering around cassette players, On the Move to make their lives richer and more Tai Chi in the Park: Is It a Sport? sometimes wearing heavy coats during With the development of cities, Chi- varied. Although elite sports are still the cold winter months. nese people’s participation in sports tightly controlled by the state, sports The Chinese folk dance yangge 秧歌 and exercise has merged with new at the grassroots level have become also is popular in Chinese cities. In spaces, forms, content, and concepts. individual and social activities and new the past people danced yangge when Chinese people have begun to regard elements in Chinese urban life. celebrating festivals, triumphs, or mar- sports as a way to be entertained and n XIONG Huan 熊欢 riages. Yangge involves dancing slowly in a circle to the accompaniment of 这 a large drum and cymbals. Typically, 是 most dancers are women, and the drummers are men. Women dance in 什 pastel-colored gauze dresses and wave matching silk scarves or fans. Today, 么 yangge is more a physical exercise than 体 an art performance. It can help people to exercise their arms, legs, and waists. 育 It is also a form of entertainment. In contrast to disco, it also stresses Chi- 项 nese traditional culture and national 目 identity. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Dating back as far as the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce), shuttlecock kicking, ti jian zi, 踢毽子 remains a popular folk 80 sport. It can be seen as a precursor of the modern Western sport of footbag, and is related to the southeast Asian takraw. Whether played as a solitary sport or between two people, shuttlecock kicking builds concentration and strength. The constant movement of the sport makes it an excellent aerobic workout. To combine Chinese traditional sports with modern elements, some new forms of exercise and sports have been created. For example, taiji dancing combines the rules of taiji with dance. An unusual It not only meets the goals of exercise sport: throwing but also brings aesthetic perceptions weighted rings to those practicing it. and catching them around one’s neck.

Part Three The World of Sports in November in the streets of Macau, in 1967 a motorcycle race was intro- is the pioneer of China’s auto racing duced. In 1983 it was decided by the N ew Sports in China New Sports sport. It is known for being the only organizers that since Formula Atlantic street circuit racing event in which (single-seat formula cars with engines 中 in China both car and motorcycle races are held; not exceeding 1600 cc in capacity ) was every year the event attracts more than becoming obsolete, the race would be 300 among racing drivers and cycle held as a Formula Three (lightweight riders. tube-frame chassis powered by 500 cc 新 MGPR was originally conceived in 1954 motorcycle engines) event. 国 as a treasure hunt around the streets Today, MGPR consists of the Macau 兴 of the city, but shortly thereafter it was Motorcycle Grand Prix, the World Tour- 体 suggested that the hunt’s track could ing Car Championship Guia Race, and 新兴体育项 host an amateur racing event for local the Macau F3 Grand Prix. The winner 育 motor enthusiasts. The race continued of the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix 金目在中国 as an amateur event until 1966, when is awarded the FIA Intercontinental 项 Belgian driver Mauro Bianchi entered Formula 3 Cup. In addition there are 目 the race with a car by Renault Sport, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race, the mostly to promote Renault’s image in Formula Renault 2000 race, the Macau 在 As China opens to the outside Hong Kong; this move by Bianchi led Cup. and the Scooter race in Macau. world, sports enthusiasts across the to more and more professional teams 中 country are revving up and teeing off. MGPR is not only a sporting event, but entering the Macao Grand Prix. Then, Auto racing and golf, among other also a tourist attraction for Macao. 国 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● sporting activities, are becoming very popular in China. The emergence of these new China’s Emerging Elite 81 sports — and the proliferation of professional sports events and luxury sports venues — is the consequence olfing now starts young among China’s According to the Wall Street Journal (12 April of a growing middle class and newly Gnew upper class. In 2006, the Interna- 2007), Jaguars, Mercedes, Bentleys, and tional Herald Tribune (26 September 2006) Cadillacs are showing up among China’s wealthy urban populations. Further- reported on affluent Chinese parents who new elite — with owner clubs springing more, the Chinese national sports give their five-year-old children daily golf up as well. With luxury-car sales doubling policy, which is turning its attention lessons during summer vacation at a Shang- between 2004 and 2007, it’s not surprising from political to commercial outcomes, hai golf complex . The individual, two-hour that Rolls-Royce has opened a showroom in has only helped to spur the boom of lessons with a Scottish golf pro carry a $200 China — though, interestingly, the location Western luxury sports in China. price tag. During the school year, weekend is Chengdu, a city where incomes are far practice sessions at the local driving range lower than in Beijing or Shanghai. And Fer- Auto Racing Roars will have to suffice. Other newly popular rari has a showroom in Dalian, another city into China sports for children of the elite include not known for its affluence. While only about horseback riding, ice skating, skiing, and .038 percent (about half a million) of China’s With the rapid increase in the own- polo. population has sufficient disposable income ership of private cars in China, auto to pay from $200,000 to $700,000 for luxury racing is no longer considered an elite Upper-class Chinese adults are finding that luxury cars are becoming the item of choice. cars, that group is increasing by an astound- sport enjoyed only by Westerners. The ing 20 percent annually. Macao Grand Prix Races (MGPR), held

体育大世界 N ew Sports in China

新兴体育项目

在 Rock-climbing walls are a 中 popular new activity in China. 国 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● The development of sports tourism government to pilot individual travel sports to a higher level of development. is one of the tourist policies of the to Hong Kong and Macao beginning Now, FASC is determined to guide the 82 Macao Special Administrative Region in August 2003, which was expected development of China’s auto and auto- government. to substantially increase the number related industries as contributors to In June 2004 Shanghai completed the of spectators to the MGPR. (Prior to the Chinese economy. It will also con- construction of a state-of-the-art rac- August 2003, travelers from mainland tribute to enriching the after-work life ing circuit. However, Shanghai lacks the China to Hong Kong and Macau could of the people. Through years of hard experience of hosting an international not travel on an individual basis; they work, FASC has established a perfect racing event. Macao has hosted MGPR could only travel on business visas or publicity work system. FASC has prom- for fifty-four years, which is almost as in group tours.) ised that it will upgrade the status of long as the history of Formula One The Federation of Automobile Sports of auto sports continuously, as well as races. Macao is willing to share its the People’s Republic of China (FASC) make it a popular entertainment for the organizational experience and pro- is a newly organized sports organiza- general public. vide technical support and personnel tion responsible for the development of training to assist Shanghai in hosting automobile sport under the leadership Golf Takes Hold its Formula One Grand Prix. There is of China’s National General Adminis- Golf in China has come a long way another reason why the MGPR has at- tration Bureau of Sports. The rapid de- since the country’s last emperor, PU tracted special attention: Guangdong velopment of China’s auto industry and Yi 溥仪, took lessons from his English Province, Beijing, and Shanghai were the rise of people’s living standards tutor in the 1920s. In Beijing today, be- given the green light by the central certainly have pushed China’s auto ing a member of the right golf club is

Part Three The World of Sports becoming the same status symbol for ties anywhere in the world. Everything played annually since November 2005, the Communist elite as it is for capital- about a Chinese golfing experience is in Shanghai. N ew Sports in China ists in the West. Although golf is still first class. The accommodations are The TCL (one of China’s largest con- an elite sport in China, there are now superb, the food is gourmet, and the sumer electronics enterprises) Classic more than two hundred officially regis- shopping, sightseeing, and culture is a men’s professional tournament tered courses throughout the country, makes a golf tour to China an unforget- played annually in Sanya on Hainan. with one thousand more under con- table adventure. The tournament was first played in struction. In China golf means more 2002 and sanctioned by the Asian Tour. 新 than watching Tiger Woods on the Major Golf Tournaments The tournament was not held in 2003 course or acting as a spokesperson for The BMW Asian Open is a men’s or 2004 but was reintroduced in 2005 兴 Accenture or Rolex. professional tournament. The tourna- with cosanctioning by the European 体 Golf also means profit. Major East ment began in 2002 and was played Tour, consistent with the latter’s expan- Coast and interior cities now feel they in Taiwan for its first two years before sion into China, 育 must have a course to cater to foreign moving to mainland China. It is co- The Volvo China Open is a men’s tour- 项 investors and tourists. Whereas golf sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the nament that is cosanctioned by the was a forbidden pastime in the 1950s European Tour and is part of the Euro- European Tour and the Asian Tour. 目 and 1960s, it is now a virtual require- pean Tour’s drive to expand into Asia The event was first played in 1995 and ment for any Chinese town hoping to in general and China in particular. has been part of the European Tour’s 在 assert its economic viability to have a The HSBC (Hong Kong Shanghai Bank schedule since 2003. 中 course. of China) Champions is a men’s profes- n XIONG Huan 熊欢 As a golfing destination, China offers sional seventy-two-hole tournament 国 arguably some of the best golf facili- ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

A young golfer practices at a driving range.

体育大世界 will no doubt increase the visibility of decade, extreme sports have experi- E xtreme Sports Come To China extreme sports in China, but no one enced rapid growth in many Western Extreme knows whether this will lead to active countries. In 2003, for example, five participation — or simply to more in- of the top ten most popular sports in 中Sports Come terest in extreme sports products and the United States were extreme sports, events. with inline skating ranked first, skateboarding second, snowboarding fourth, To China The Making of and wakeboarding ninth. Extreme “extreme” Sports sports have also grown exponentially 国 Taking risks with ones life in sport in some Asian countries, particularly Japan and Korea, but only since the 极 competition is nothing new in the human experience. Gladiator competi- late 1990s and early 2000s have ex- 限极限运 tions in ancient Rome and jousts in treme sports gained appeal among the medieval Europe are two examples of rapidly growing Chinese middle class 运金动在中国 sports that fit the modern definition of and in particular Chinese middle-class extreme. youth. Today young Chinese males 动 and females participate in snowboard- In the 1990s, some U.S. corporations 在 ing, skateboarding, BMX, surfing, rock The Asian X Games took place grouped a number of marginalized, climbing, and various other extreme youth-dominated sports, such as skate- 中 in Shanghai in 2007 and the 2008 sports. However, although the num- boarding, BMX (bicycle motocross) Olympic Games launches BMX rac- ber of extreme sport aficionados is 国 ing as an official medal sport, joining riding, and BASE (building, antenna, ● ● ● ● ● ● ● growing in China, the growth has been span, Earth) jumping, under a new “extreme” events such as mountain considerably slower than in many other label: extreme sports. Over the past biking and canoe and kayak slalom. countries. In terms of injury rates, most 84 The inclusion of BMX, much like the inclusion of snowboarding at the 1998 Winter Olympics, is a way for the International Olympic Com- mittee to appeal to a younger generation, and in addition to medal events the IOC has made action- and extreme- sports demonstrations part of the Games. This exposure

The world’s largest skateboarding ramp, which helped launch Californian skateboarder Danny Way over the Great Wall of China in July 2005.

Part Three The World of Sports E xtreme Sports Come To China

极限运动 Base-jumping off 在 of the Jin Mao tower in Shanghai. 中国 extreme sports are no more danger- more Chinese youths to take up skate- and -operated apparel manufacturer ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ous than the majority of organized boarding, BMX, and inline skating. Glorious Sun Enterprises with the goal sports, yet the “risky” and “daredevil” China is also increasingly hosting large of opening retail stores in Shanghai, images associated with these sports international extreme sports events, Beijing, and Hong Kong and tapping 85 discourage many Chinese people from for example, the Shanghai Showdown into the rapidly growing Chinese mar- participation. Gravity Games, Nanshan Snowboard- ket. “We are very excited about this ing Open, the 720 China Surf Open, initiative,” said Quiksilver CEO Bob Extreme Sports Get and the 2007 Asian X Games. McKnight. Government Support Burton Snowboards also recognizes The Chinese government has begun The Manufacturing the potential of China. In 2005 Burton to support the development of ex- Connection Snowboards signed a three-year deal treme sports. In October 2005, the Since the mid-1980s, Chinese manufac- to sponsor the National Snowboard world’s largest skate park opened in turing firms have been commissioned Team of China, which consists of six Shanghai. Three times bigger than the by foreign companies to produce young men and six young women, se- largest skateboard park in the United extreme-sports–related clothing and lected solely on their athletic (rather States and rumored to have cost equipment. Only recently, however, than snowboarding) abilities. Accord- more than US$8 million — paid by the have these foreign companies rec- ing to Bryan Johnston, vice president government — the park is set to host a ognized the potential of the Chinese of global marketing for Burton Snow- number of national and international youth market. In 2003, for example, boards, “snowboarding’s expansion extreme sport events and encourage action-sports giant Quiksilver entered into China presents a huge opportu- a joint venture with Chinese-owned nity in the sport’s overall growth ...

体育大世界 and we’re extremely pleased to have people, the research firm Label Net- E xtreme Sports Come To China the chance to work with the National works suggests that it did not encour- Snowboard Team of China.” age more youths to take up the sport. Many U.S.-based companies are also Rather, the stunt had the opposite investing heavily in major events and effect; it was perceived locally as “an spectacles to help raise the profile of oddball ‘American’ thing.” extreme sports and, by association, their companies, among Chinese youth. A Tentative Approach For example, professional Califor- to Extreme Sports nia skateboarder Danny Way grabbed Indeed, despite the support of the 极 headlines around the world when he, China Extreme Sports Association and with the financial support of his key the aggressive marketing by Chinese 限 sponsors Quiksilver and DC shoes, and Western — particularly U.S. — com- constructed the largest skateboarding panies, many Chinese youth and their 运 structure ever built (36.58 meters tall, parents are tentative about partici- 动 with a gap distance of 27.43 meters) pating in these sports. Although the and performed a 360-degree rotation X Games are on the rise in Beijing, they 在 while jumping over the Great Wall of are developing slowly. Chinese par- China on his skateboard. Interestingly, ents worry about their children getting 中 the Chinese government approved this involved in dangerous sports. And top- 国 media stunt; a number of government quality coaching and equipment are ● ● ● ● ● ● ● officials, including an official from the too expensive for the average person Wakeboarding in China. Ministry of Culture, attended the event. to afford. The Shanghai Star reports that However, although Way’s spectacular many Chinese youth are “under heavy pressure to study” and that some con- 86 stunt was well received by the Chinese sider extreme sports “a waste of time.” Drawing on two studies on Chinese Danny Way Jumpstarts Skateboarding in China youth culture, Label Networks notes that few parents want their only child to participate in extreme pursuits and anny Way’s skateboarding feats on the dorsed by Way. Bob McKnight, Quiksilver’s that they still prefer basketball, table Great Wall in 2005 dazzled the world. CEO, understandingly had a more entrepre- D tennis, and martial arts. Indeed, these Just before the event, Way explained his neurial take on the jump: “Quiksilver contin- motives: “Skateboarding has yet to realize ues to grow around the world, and China is studies identify Jackie Chan 成龙 as its full potential, and by bringing this event an important region for our brand. Danny is the “real ‘extreme’ hero in China.” Al- to the people of China and the rest of the the perfect athlete to bring this feat of skat- though extreme sports have spawned world, I hope to contribute to the future ing excellence to this nation, and his jump a new culture among youth in China, of skateboarding and bring my sport the will serve as a bridge to a country which has participation tends to be based on the global attention it deserves.” discovered its passion for skateboarding. It consumption of apparel, footwear, and The event was sponsored by Quiksilver, also represents an enormous opportunity to events, inspired by U.S. and Japanese the company that owns DC Shoes — which bring our boardriding lifestyle to the youth action sports heroes rather than on ac- makes skateboarding shoes that are en- of China and the tremendous excitement tive participation. surrounding this sport.” n Holly Thorpe

Part Three The World of Sports from illness, and even in psychological sports hospital in China and has be- preparation for competition. come well known for its treatment of Sports Medicine in China Sports sports trauma by traditional Chinese Development of Sports medicine, such as the application of 中Medicine Medicine Education Chinese herbs, traditional osteopathy, and Research and acupuncture. in China In 1953 the Central Institute of Physical This sports hospital, known since 1984 Education, now Beijing Sports Univer- as Chengdu Sports Trauma Institute of sity, offered courses in anatomy and National Sports Council, has cooper- 国 physiology for the first time in China; ated with national sports teams and later other courses, such as hygiene, has provided Chinese Olympic ath- sports medical intendance, and exer- letes with services in both research 中国 cise therapy were developed. Five years and clinical treatment. Physicians 中 later, the National Research Institute apply traditional Chinese and modern 金运动医学 of Sports Science was established by Western medicine in their practice and 国 the Ministry of Sports. This institute have been successful in the treatment 运 includes sports medicine, exercise of acute and chronic sports traumas, physiology, and biochemistry research especially in fractures and soft tissue 动 Sports medicine has benefited departments. In the same year, a and joint injuries. Chinese athletes for more than five sports hospital affiliated with Chengdu 医 decades and contributed to China’s In 1959, with the support of the Chi- Institute of Physical Education, in achievements in national, regional, and nese National Sports Council, Bei- 学 Chengdu, a major city in Sichuan Prov- ● ● ● ● ● ● international events. The Chinese As- jing government, and Beijing Medical ince in southwestern China, was set sociation of Sports Medicine and the University, Professor QU Mianyu 曲绵 up under the leadership of Marshal newly formed Chinese Association of 域 established the Research Institute HE Long 贺龙 who was the Minister 87 Clinical Sports Medicine have played of Sports Medicine (now the Research of Sport at that time. It was the first major roles in clinical and sports science research and education, general public health, and athletic training and performance in China. Chinese Sports Medicine In 2006, the Twenty-ninth FIMS In- ternational Conference of Sports QIAN Jinhua, the general-secretary of the Chinese and methodology from overseas, but we still Association of Sports Medicine explains how the prac- use many elements of TCM. For instance, we Medicine was held in Beijing, with tice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) affects treat chronic and acute soft-tissue damage representatives from the World Health the physical conditioning and treatment of athletes with TCM massage as well as acupuncture Organization and the International in China. and moxibustion [the burning of herbs on or Olympic Committee in attendance. thlete selection, bodily function evalu- near the skin to stimulate healing]. Doctors The use of traditional Chinese medi- A ation, training, and preventing and con- with Western medical training have be- cine in the treatment of sports injuries trolling injury and sickness are all important come more popular with athletes for other is of considerable interest to sports components of the Chinese sports medicine types of problems, however. For instance, therapists, who are today making use system. In the last few years we have incor- athletes are tired of using traditional Chi- of a much wider variety of methods to porated a good deal of theory, experience, nese herbal remedies; they prefer Western help athletes in their training, recovery prescriptions.

体育大世界 Institute of Sports Medicine at Bei- degrees in sports medicine. In recent food, and nutritional products used Sports Medicine in China jing University) in the Third Affiliated years the major in sports medicine has by athletes. It is the only lab in Asia Clinical Hospital of Beijing Medical been developed or strengthened at that has passed the examination of the University. It was the first institute to other sports institutes and universities. World Anti-Doping Agency continually combine scientific research and clinical Most of the sports medicine centers for nineteen years. treatment of sports medicine in China have their own clinics or are affiliated and has become a top-ranking insti- with the universities or hospitals. Chi- Chinese Association tute for teaching, research, and clinical nese doctors and physicians now work of Sports Medicine treatment by experts in sports trauma- in sports medicine all over the world. The Chinese Association of Sports tology, sports nutrition, sports medical In 1986 the Chinese National Sports Medicine has contributed greatly to intendance, and sports rehabilitation. Council set up the National Research the popularization and application of This institute also has been appointed Institute of Sports Medicine, includ- sports medicine in China. In 1978 the 中 by the National Sports Council and ing the China Doping Control Center association joined the International the Chinese Olympic Committee as a and Sports Nutrition Center. The China Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS). 国 medical treatment center for Chinese Doping Control Center is the only au- In 2006 the Chinese Association of 运 Olympic athletes. It has contributed to thorized center for doping control in Clinical Sports Medicine was founded the general health and performance of China. It is in charge of doping control as a part of the Chinese Medical As- 动 many Chinese sports stars and Olym- in international and national sports sociation and approved by the Chinese pic champions. games and the testing of the medicine, Association of Science and Technology. 医 Since the 1960s most major 学 physical education institutes ● ● ● ● ● ● and physical education department within universities have offered sports medicine 88 courses. In 1981 the sports medicine programs at several medical universities and physical education institutes were upgraded to offer bach- elor’s, master’s, and doctoral

An athlete is assessed at the China Institute of Sport Science in Beijing.

Part Three The World of Sports The international status of the Chi- nese Association of Sports Medicine Acupuncture Sports Medicine in China has been greatly elevated in the past twenty years. Since it became a mem- cupuncture is an ancient treatment cine, whether it is cardiology or dentistry, ber of FIMS, Professor Qu Mianyu was Atechnique still routinely used in tra- infectious diseases, or obstetrics. Respond- elected as a vice president of FIMS in ditional Chinese medicine and also in ing to research, acupuncture techniques 1986 and served until 1994. In 1990 the Western medicine. Techniques for making have embraced such new technologies as association became a founding mem- bamboo needles and for casting bronze laser and electrical stimulation. In Chi- ber of the Asian Federation of Sports needles developed during the Shang dy- nese hospitals that provide acupuncture Medicine (AFSM), and Professor Qu nasty (1766–1045 bce). During the Song dy- services, the acupuncture section is always was its first chairman. nasty (960–1267 ce), the Jurchen Jin dynasty called the department of acupuncture and (1126–1234 ce), and the Yuan dynasty (1267– moxibustion (moxibustion is the burning of 1368 ce), acupuncture developed widely in medicinal substances, usually herbs, on the Sports Medicine China. However, during the Qing dynasty acupoints for therapeutic effect). Although 中 Associations and (1644–1912) the practice was banned from the predominant treatment in the depart- Publications general use by decree because it was per- ment is acupuncture, moxibustion plays an 国 ceived as unsuitable for application to the important role. Even as Western medicine In China many branches of the Chinese 运 Association of Sports Medicine are emperor. Although banned, acupuncture becomes more common in China in the located in provinces and cities. These continued to flourish in local use. Although twenty-first century, acupuncture contin- 动 branches connect scholars with sports acupuncture had been popular among the ues to be used, especially in hospitals Chinese-American community for over one that rely on traditional medicine and also medicine therapists and provide a way 医 hundred years, non-Chinese Americans those that combine traditional and Western for them to share their studies and became more aware of acupuncture after approaches. 学 experiences of teaching, research, and ● ● ● ● ● ● President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China. n Bao-xing CHEN and Garé Lecompte clinical practice. Since 1980 the Na- In China acupuncture is used to treat tional Conference of Sports Medicine diseases in nearly every branch of medi- has been held annually. In addition, 89 each branch of the Chinese Associa- tion of Sports Medicine, such as sports traumatology and exercise therapy, congress held in China and brought Many training courses in sports medi- hold conferences twice or three times a sixteen hundred representatives from cine are held in China. These courses year. The Chinese Journal of Sports Medi- all over the world to Beijing during the focus on the theory and practice of cine (CJSM) was first published in 1982 preparations for the Olympic Games. sports traumatology, sports nutri- and is now one of China’s core science Representatives of FIMS, the World tion, sports medical intendance, and journals. Health Organization, International exercise therapy. The course in the Olympic Committee, Chinese De- traditional Chinese medical treatment In 1985 the first Beijing International partment of Health, China’s General of sports injury — which has attracted Conference of Sports Medicine was Administration of Sport, and the Orga- sports therapists from all over the held. Twenty-one years later, in 2006, nizing Committee of the 2008 Beijing world — is especially popular. the Twenty-ninth FIMS International Olympic Games attended. Conference of Sports Medicine was n GUO Hong 郭红 held in Beijing. It was the first FIMS

体育大世界 due to the absence of the USSR, which and grabbed the second position in the Doping and Sport in China was boycotting the games. However, gold medal count a mere sixteen years Doping with the Seoul Olympics in 1988, Chi- later, at the 2004 Athens Olympics, nese athletes began to be implicated in claiming its position as an emerging 中and Sport a string of drug scandals, culminating sports superpower. In this relatively at the 1994 Asian Games, where eleven brief period, China tasted the sweet- Chinese athletes returned positive ness of victory but also the bitterness in China results from doping control. And at the of doping scandals. In fact suspicions World Swimming Championships in of doping have lingered around every 兴国 Australia in 1998, a Chinese swimmer unexpected success that Chinese ath- was caught at the Sydney airport with letes have achieved, from the world- 奋 a growth hormone in her luggage, and record-setting female distance runners 剂兴奋剂 four swimmers tested positive at the coached by MA Junren 馬俊仁 in the event in Perth. early 1990s to the stunning perfor- 与金与中国体育 China’s remarkable progress within a mances of Chinese female swimmers at the World Swimming Championships 中 short time inevitably aroused suspicions of a systematic doping scheme in 1994. 国 backed by the government, reminis- Richard Pound, president of cent of doping scandals in the former The Risks of Reform the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), 体 East Germany and the Soviet Union. To understand the history of drug points out that every sport has had Compared with winning merely five abuse in Chinese sports, it is worth- 育 its share of cheating, and there’s little ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● gold medals at the 1988 Seoul Olym- while to understand that China’s doubt every country has its share of pics, China won thirty-two gold medals return to the Olympic family coin- doping in sports. China is no excep- 90 tion. Because the issue of doping — in U.S. baseball and the Tour de France as well as at the Olympic Games — has Performance Enhancement in Ancient Times drawn much attention in recent years, the International Olympic Commit- he record of performance-enhancing such as ingesting mushroom extracts, plant tee (IOC) and China have undertaken Tdrugs dates back to 400 bce in Greece, seeds, or any concoction thought to en- unprecedented measures to ensure a when achievements in sports were first hance performance. doping-free Olympics. found to increase social status, political During the Roman period chariot races and power, and economic well-being. Although gladiator competitions filled the stands with How It All Started the crown of olive leaves was the only “of- spectators. Knowing that a victory could be ficial prize” for an Olympic victory, records China retook its seat on the Interna- their ticket to social and economic pros- indicate that Olympic winners could gain perity, competitors fed their horses potent tional Olympic Committee (IOC) in great wealth from lucrative prizes awarded mixtures of herbs and other plants to make 1979 after a twenty-one year absence by their city-state. In addition to money, them run faster. They also fed themselves because of the dispute over the “two winners might receive homes, food, tax herbal substances that acted as doping Chinas” issue, and in the country’s first breaks, and even exemption from duty in agents to make for a more intense and appearance, it won fifteen gold med- the armed services. Because the stakes bloody battle, one that would satisfy the als. This impressive return performance were high, athletes were open to any means adoring crowds. that gave them the edge over opponents, in Los Angeles in 1984 did not arouse n Libby Albers much suspicion about doping, in part

Part Three The World of Sports receiving international certification in 2004. The annual total of tests soared Doping and Sport in China from fewer than two hundred in 1990 to more than nine thousand in 2006, with more than half conducted as out-of- Participants competition tests, the most effective at a session means of detection. A groundbreak- of a 1984 conference ing government decree, Regulations on sports on Anti-Doping, promulgated by the medicine and State Council, came into effect 1 March 兴 doping issues in Beijing. 2004. Despite their significance not being fully appreciated outside China, 奋 the regulations provided a foundation 剂 cided with China’s embarking on an some coaches and athletes turned for government authorities to make unprecedented open-door economic to performance-enhancing drugs or concerted efforts to combat doping in 与 reform, which brought about profound other methods to gain an edge over sports. changes in every aspect of social life in their opponents. And so it was that 中 China and also transformed the role of doping seeped into China during the At the same time, China took part sports. Sporting success was identified mid-1980s. in international anti-doping affairs, 国 representing Asia on the foundation as an instrument that could help cre- 体 ate a new national image as part of the From Zero Tolerance board of WADA since its establish- country’s rejuvenation. Winning gold to Doping Scandals ment in 1999. China was among the 育 fifty-one governments that signed the ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● medals at international competitions, Undoubtedly, China could not afford particularly the Olympic Games, was Copenhagen Declaration to recognize to have its reputation tarnished by the and implement the World Anti-Doping considered a way to achieve national doping crisis, and certainly the crisis glory. The overwhelming priority given Code at the Second World Conference 91 was at odds with the country’s ambi- on Doping in Sport in 2003. In Octo- to Olympic sports gave rise to a win- tion as it bid for the Olympics in 1993 at-all-cost mentality at different levels ber 2006, China became the first Asian and 2001. China responded by seri- country to ratify the United Nations of elite sports. At the same time, the ously addressing the situation. The first meaning of sports success for individ- Educational, Scientific and Cultural doping control tests were carried out Organization (UNESCO) International ual athletes also changed dramatically. in 1990. A series of anti-doping regu- Convention against Doping in Sport. In the early 1980s, a world champion- lations was formulated to curb drug abuse in sports. Remarkable progress ship brought an athlete only politi- Anti-doping Challenges cal prestige and higher social status, was made from the mid-1990s when Eliminating doping from sports is a whereas twenty years later an Olympic China began bilateral cooperation with long-term battle around the world. championship meant the creation of some leading countries in anti-doping, What are the complexities of the battle a millionaire overnight. Prize money such as Norway, Australia, Sweden, and and the key challenges for China? poured in not only from government Canada. First, the motivation for drug abuse rewards but also from the private sec- A full-fledged national anti-doping pro- is becoming more sophisticated and tors, in the form of commercial en- gram was established by the end of the diversified, and doping is not restricted dorsements, for example. Driven by the 1990s. Great attention was also paid to win-at-all-cost mentality and tempted to elite athletes competing for gold the quality of testing, with China’s Na- medals at international competitions. by overwhelming financial rewards, tional Doping Control Quality System

体育大世界 use of traditional Chinese herbs in Doping and Sport in China Olympic Anti-doping Rules Get Stronger food preparation and the complexity of their ingredients put Chinese athletes In April 2008, the International Olympic Committee n The fact that athletes who miss a test on at high risk of drug abuse and make (IOC) announced on its website (www.olympics.com) two separate occasions during the Games doping prevention and education more the implementation of tougher anti-doping rules “as or on one occasion during Games plus two sophisticated. a clear demonstration of the IOC’s commitment to in the 18 months prior, will be considered Third, a national anti-doping organiza- ensuring athletes play fair in Beijing.” to have committed an anti-doping rule tion (NADO) independent from sports violation. The new rules include: and government has been identified as 兴 n Possession of any substance from the list n The provision that all athletes participat- a key strategy to effectively fight doping in the Olympic Games in Beijing will be of prohibited substances would constitute ing in sports. With the 2008 Olympic 奋 a violation (previously only a selection from subject to doping controls at any time or Games on the horizon and the increas- the prohibited list would have applied). 剂 place, with no advance notice. ing international attention, China is under close scrutiny both in terms of its 与 ability to control its athletes through 中 Doping appears to be seeping into sports events, such as the National the national program in the lead-up to sports for young student-athletes, com- Games, the National Urban Games, the games and its handling of doping 国 pelling the sports authority to intro- and the Provincial Games. For many control during the games. No doubt duce doping control at national youth coaches and sports administrators more resources and expertise need 体 sports events. In recent years reports at the provincial and city levels, the to be dedicated to this effort, and an 育 of positive results from doping tests performances of their athletes at the independent Chinese NADO would be ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● conducted on high school students at local Provincial Games are not di- a strong indicator of the country’s com- the national university entrance ex- rectly related to the national Olympic mitment to doping-free sports. Other aminations and at the Provincial Junior program but rather more often serve key issues faced by Chinese sports in- 92 Games have increased. The world was as stepping-stones in their own ca- clude the alignment of domestic policy shocked when officials of the Chinese reers. How many gold medals a city with the World Anti-Doping Code and Olympic Committee Anti-Doping Com- wins at these local sports events and the control of the manufacturing and mission (COCADC) raided a training how many young athletes are scouted trafficking of illegal substances. camp of the Anshan city sports school by professional teams determine the Some people may ask how China views in northeastern China in August 2006, promotion of some team officials and doping in relation to its sports. A com- and seized in the headmaster’s room coaches. Furthermore, the athlete ment from a senior government sports prohibited drugs, including erythropoi- population at these amateur sports official, quoted on the Chinese Olym- etin (EPO), testosterone, and hypo- schools is huge and technically outside pic Committee Anti-Doping Commis- dermic needles. The youngest doped the registered testing pool controlled sion website, may be the best answer: athlete was only fifteen and the oldest by the national program. “China won 32 gold metals at the eighteen, and they were preparing for Second, in Chinese cultural tradition Athens Olympics. Evidence of doping- their Provincial Youth Games. the notion of food and medicine is nu- free performance was like a 33rd gold To link such an incident to China’s anced. Sometimes medicine is food medal for the Chinese team, and with- preparation for the 2008 Olympics and food is medicine. Even an ordi- out it, the other 32 gold medals would would show a lack of knowledge of nary Chinese housewife will add some be meaningless.”

the Chinese sports system. China has Chinese medicinal herbs when stewing n CUI Ying 崔颖 a variety of domestic comprehensive meat or making a soup. The extensive

Part Three The World of Sports of twenty, scored a high jump of 1.77 Table 1 n Comparison of Chinese Olympians by Gender W

meters, beating the previous mark omen in Sports: Holding Up Half the Sky Women of 1.76 meters. The new record, set 1992 1 000 004 in 1957, was the first women’s world Women 132 200 188 269 中in Sports: record for the People’s Republic of Men 118 110 93 138 China. The jump made Zheng the first n Percentage of women competitors Asian athlete to break a world track 52.8 64.5 66.9 66.09 Holding Up and field record since 1936. Dubbed “a spring swallow” who awakened Chi- Table 2 n Comparison of Chinese Olympic Half the Sky nese sports, Zheng sent a message to Gold Medalists by Gender 国 1988 1992 1 000 004 the world that China was no longer the “sick man of the East” 东亚病夫. Women 2 12 9 16.5 19.5 Men 3 4 7 11.5 12.5 The first Chinese women’s sports team to catch the attention of the world was 金妇女体育 the volleyball team, which in 1981 de- number of medals they have won are feated Japan and won the World Cup. In evidence of the extraordinary perfor- 妇 the next five years, the team won five mance of Chinese women in sports. In world champion titles. Team members every Olympics since 1998, Chinese 女 In Chinese sports, not only is were regarded as national heroines. female athletes have outnumbered the phoenix (the symbol of women) The spirit of the women’s volleyball their male counterparts and have 体 rising, but it is also waggin’ the dragon team inspired millions of Chinese played a major role in raising China’s (the symbol of men). The ascen- 育 people in the 1980s, and the team’s standing in the gold medal tally (see ● ● ● ● sion of Chinese women in sports has success brought women’s sports to tables 1 and 2). aroused world interest and acclaim. prominence in the world. After the Chinese Communist Party Why the Phoenix Rose 93 won national power and established The number of Chinese women partici- the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in pants in Olympic Games and the The outstanding performances of Chi- 1949, the Communists promised that nese sportswomen have many people a new China would embrace gender equality. Since then, “Women hold up half the sky” 妇女撑起半边天 has been Women and Sport in Ancient China more than just a slogan made popular by Chairman MAO Zedong 毛泽 hrough most of China’s recorded his- If Marco Polo (1254–1324) can be believed, 东. Chinese women’s sports have been Ttory, racket games were popular among the Mongol dynasty produced a royal hero- promoted, and Chinese women have women. A Ming-dynasty (1368–1644) scroll ine comparable to the Greek girl Atalanta, made outstanding achievements on the painting, Grove of Violets, depicts elegantly at- who raced against and defeated a number international sports stage. tired ladies playing chuiwan, a game combin- of suitors. Princess Aiyaruk was said to have ing elements of modern billiards and golf. owned more than ten thousand horses, Women in Elite Sport According to the Wanjing (1282), the players winning one hundred at a time as she out- took turns striking a wooden ball and send- wrestled a long line of doomed suitors. The first Chinese female athlete to ing it into holes marked with colored flags. n Allen Guttmann break a world record and leap into The ethos of the game stressed fairness and world sports history was ZHENG harmony among the players. Fengrong 郑凤荣. Zheng, at the age

体育大世界 W omen in Sports: Holding Up Half the Sky

妇女体

育 The Chinese women’s ● ● ● ● soccer team celebrates a championship.

94 wondering why the phoenix can fly be able to participate in economic, cul- standard of Chinese elite sports, and higher than the dragon. To answer this tural, and military work — and produce in the belief that women’s involve- question, we must put women’s sports and nurture a healthy new generation. ment in elite sports would be evidence in the context of the change of political Chinese women since then have been of gender equality in the new China. objectives, gender relationships, sports encouraged to participate in sports Sports would be instrumental in show- ideologies, and the management sys- nationally and locally. ing the advantages of socialist gender tem in China. With the introduction of an open- policy. Millions of young girls were When the People’s Republic of China door policy and the reinstatement carefully selected, tested, and graded was newly established, it needed to of Chinese membership by the Inter- for athletic potential, and the best were develop its economy and strengthen national Olympic Committee (IOC) put through a disciplined, military- its national defense. Therefore, sports in 1979, Chinese female athletes had type training that included conditions policy sought to train strong citizens to the chance to enter the world sports of hardship and injury so the athletes reconstruct the country. It required of arena. The Chinese Sports Minis- would develop toughness of spirit and its women not only immense patriotic try emphasized that all professional body, skill, training, and competition. enthusiasm, scientific knowledge, and teams should recruit and train women The so-called sports spirit emphasized work skill, but also healthy bodies. The athletes. China emphasized develop- Chinese women’s traditional qualities, government believed that only when ment of female elite athletes as part such as endurance and obedience. women had healthy bodies would they of its determination to raise the whole

Part Three The World of Sports But although China’s female elite Stars of Half of the Sky XIE Jun 谢军 is a female chess player W athletes were achieving satisfactory YANG Wenyi 杨文意, one of the Five who made history when she dethroned omen in Sports: Holding Up Half the Sky results on the world’s stage and mak- Golden Flowers in China’s swimming Maya Chiburdanidze of the former ing crucial contributions to China’s pantheon, was born in Shanghai on 11 Soviet Union at the 1991 world chess advances in world sports, they were January 1972. She began training as a championships, breaking a longtime also suffering from suppression of swimmer at the age of six and joined Soviet dominance in world chess. She their self-expression, self-fulfillment, the Shanghai municipal team in 1984. also challenged Russian great Anatoly and self-realization. This suppression Two years later, she became a mem- Karpov in a six-game series, the first caused contradictions in Chinese wom- ber of the national team. Yang Wenyi time in the game’s history that a women’s sports: concern and cruelty, hard- was the first Asian swimmer to break a an’s world champion challenged her ship and enjoyment, conformity and world record when she set a new mark male counterpart. Xie Jun was widely individuality, obedience and defiance. in the women’s 50-meter freestyle in a known for her optimism and vivid at- national event. She broke the world re- tacking style. Her success did much to Sports at the cord again in the 1992 Olympic Games. popularize international chess in China Grassroots Level and throughout Asia. She is now an official of the Beijing Sports The emphasis on the political function 妇 of women’s sports on the international Commission working with stage created an imbalance between chess players and athletes in 女 elite sports and mass sports: although other sports. female athletes were successful on the FU Mingxia 伏明霞 became 体 international stage, women’s physical China’s youngest world cham- 育 activity at the grassroots level re- pion at age thirteen when she ● ● ● ● mained at a low level. won the 1991 World Swim- However, just as the Chinese economy ming Championships. The has acquired new characteristics as it next year she became China’s 95 has become more market oriented, so youngest-ever Olympic cham- too has Chinese women’s participa- pion, winning the gold medal tion in sports, which now combines for the 10-meter platform nationalism, commercialism, and event. She won titles in the individualism. Today, women’s sports next two Olympic Games and participation at the grassroots level is became a star in the world of booming, as evidenced by the increase international diving. in the number of gym sports, park sports, community sports, voluntary sports organizations, and fitness clubs. The concept of sports as a way of life has gradually been replacing the concept of sports as a political tool. “Sports for all” 全民健身 is a new value, one that gives women more access to and meaning in sports. The 1984 Olympics— China vs. CSSR.

体育大世界 CHEN Lu 陈露 was China’s first star in W

omen in Sports: Holding Up Half the Sky The “Golden Lilies” figure skating. She was born in Chang- chun in 1976, the daughter of an ice As women’s participation in sports has expanded, it’s a child’s shoulder, or by means of a strong hockey coach and a table tennis player. been necessary to change our notions about female staff. Some very wealthy ladies are the pos- As a young skater in the early 1990s, beauty. As the extract below illustrates — from sessors of feet which are almost useless, Chen demonstrated both athletic abil- Mary Isabella Bryson’s Child Life in China and, as they can hardly walk from one room ity and artistic potential, out-jumping (1890) — bound feet were once a sign of wealth to another in their spacious mansions, they many of her contemporaries and the and considered highly attractive in China. are not unfrequently carried, especially world’s top figure skaters. She made ut the most important part of a young about their gardens, on the backs of their an impact in 1995 at the World Fig- girl’s dress in china is her shoes. Such large-footed attendants. Women whose feet ure Skating Championships in Bir- B are not quite so small, though still tightly tiny shoes they are, of coloured silk or satin, mingham, England, where she won bound, manage to walk occasionally, with most tastefully embroidered, with brightly the women’s singles title to become painted heels, just peeping beneath the great difficulty, a distance of several miles. “Their movements are as the waving [of] the China’s first world champion in figure neat pantalette; the feet are supposed to skating. She was one of the most deco- merit the poetical name bestowed upon willows,” says a Chinese poet in reference rated skaters of the decade, winning them of “golden lilies.”... to these tiny feet; but to English eyes the 妇 gait appears to be by no means elegant, and two Olympic medals, four World med- Three inches is the correct length of the 女 bears a strong resemblance to what would als, and nine national titles. fashionable shoes in which Chinese Ladies be obtained by walking on our heels. toddle and limp, supporting themselves on DENG Yaping 邓亚萍 was a table ten- 体 nis legend. She was born in 1973 in 育 Zhengzhou, Hannan province, where ● ● ● ● Chinese culture originated. At the age GAO Ming 高敏, known as the “Diving field and received the Jesse Owens of four, she began to play table ten- Queen,” was born in the city of Zigong International Trophy Award, presented ning under the guidance of her father. in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. to the world’s best amateur athlete, in 96 At eight she won the national amateur She won eight gold medals in major New York. In 1996 at the Olympics in championship. In 1988 she became a events such as the Olympic Games Atlanta, Georgia, she capped her ca- member of the National Training Team. (1988, 1992), World Swimming Cham- reer with a 5K-meter gold medal and a Deng Xaping was not only the first pionships (1986), and the World Cup 10K-meter silver medal. Wang Junxia is Olympic table tennis paddler to defend (1987, 1989). She won more than sev- regarded as the best runner in China’s her title in two straight Olympics, but enty titles in her career. She was also sports history, famously called the she was also the only winner of four chosen as the World’s Best Diver of the “Oriental Divine Deer” 东方神鹿. Olympic gold medals in the table ten- Year by the U.S. magazine Swimming Wang Junxia was born into a peasant nis competition in the history of the World from 1987 to 1989. family in northeast China’s Jilin Prov- Olympic Games. Apart from these four China had achieved little in women’s ince in 1973. As a child she was weak Olympic gold medals, she also won middle- and long-distance running and pale and her family had little to do six gold medals in Table Tennis World until the 1993 World Championships with sports. It was unimaginable that Championships between 1989 and in Stuttgart, Germany, where WANG this running champion would one day 1997. In total, she has won some eigh- Junxia 王军霞 won the 10K-meter gold become famous for her tenacious spirit teen world championships and Olym- medal and broke the world record. One and inflexible will, which played a big pic medals. month later, she broke the world record part in her athletic achievements. n XIONG Huan in the same event in China’s eighth Na- 熊欢 tional Games. In 1994 she beat a strong

Part Three The World of Sports P art F our

Welcoming the World 奥运在中国

lympic Games often transform their host cities, and Beijing has indeed undergone a dramatic and perhaps long-lasting O “makeover.” Its Olympic Green, the central area for the Olympic contests, now boasts a massive National Stadium. Known as the “Bird’s Nest,” this architectural wonder seats 120,000 people. After the Games, the Green will serve as a cultural and commercial center with conference facilities, shopping, and sporting events. Western Beijing — once a belt of pollution-spewing steel plants — is now the location of Olympic shooting ranges, indoor cycling, and a basketball stadium. Construction, tourism, and changes to the city’s infrastructure, among other factors, have been estimated to bring an additional $13.2 billion and 1.82 million jobs to Beijing. But the Olympics are certain to have more than an economic impact on the city — and on China itself. Part Four of China Gold looks at how Beijing and other Chinese cities have prepared for the Olympics. It considers as well the impact the Games will have on a nation that welcomes to its shores 300,000 tourists from overseas — and some 20,000 foreign journalists — while the whole world watches. will have ownership rights after the of Beijing inside the Beijing Olym- W here the Action Is Olympics. pic Green. With a seating capacity of Where the 100,000, including 20,000 temporary Sports Venues in Beijing seats, the stadium will be the main 中Action Is The concepts of both centralization venue for the Olympics, where the and decentralization — “one center plus opening and closing ceremonies, as three areas” — were used in the general well as track and field and men’s soccer distribution of the sports venues in finals, will be held. The stadium will Beijing. The “one center” is the Olympic become a center for sports and other 国 Green, and the “three areas” are the entertainment as well as the host sta- University Area, the Western Commu- dium for Beijing Guo’an Soccer Club. nity Area, and the North Scenic Spot Area. Five other venues, including the National Aquatics Center Workers’ Stadium, will be renovated Located inside the Olympic Green, 比赛场地 or expanded to facilitate cultural and the National Aquatics Center 国家游金 3 sports activities for neighboring resi- , known as H O or the “water 比泳中心 2 dents after hosting training and con- cube,” faces the National Stadium 赛 tests of the Olympics. at the north part of Beijing’s central ompany s coming lots of C ’ — axis. Together they exemplify many of company — and China has made the 场 Olympic Green the historical and cultural features of dust fly: renovating or building thirty- Beijing. The National Aquatics Cen- 地 six gymnasiums and stadiums and The Beijing Olympic Green 北京奥林匹 ● ● ● ● ter is the venue for swimming, diving, fifty-nine training centers as China pre- 克公园 is the central area for the Olym- synchronized swimming, and water pared to host the 2008 Olympics — not pic contests, along with the National polo events, with a seating capacity of only in Beijing but in Tianjin, Shang- Stadium, the National Sports Venue, 98 seventeen thousand. hai, Hong Kong, Qingdao, and and the National Aquatics Center, as Qinhuangdao. well as the Conference Center, which will serve as a temporary fencing hall. National Indoor Stadium New venues include the Beijing Na- After the Olympics the Conference With a seating capacity of eighteen tional Stadium, Beijing National Indoor Center will serve as a conference and thousand, the National Indoor Sta- Stadium, Beijing National Aquatics exhibition site, and the Olympic Green dium 国家体育馆 is composed of a Center, Olympic Green Convention will become a public activity center for main hall, a nearby warmup gym, and Center, Olympic Green, and Beijing sports contests, conferences, exhibi- other outdoor facilities. It will host the Wukesong Culture and Sports Center. tions, entertainment, shopping, and artistic gymnastics, trampoline, and Some will be owned and governed by cultural and commercial activities. handball events. The stadium’s design the State General Administration of was inspired by a traditional Chinese Sports, for use after the Olympics as fa- National Stadium folding fan. cilities for future national sports teams The National Stadium — and events, while US$2.1 billion (17.4 国家体育场 designed by Herzog & De Meuron Olympic Forest Park billion Renminbi [RMB]) in corporate Architekten, ARUP, and China Archi- With a total area of about 680 hectares, bids and tenders are expected to fund tecture Design & Research Group and the Olympic Forest Park almost 85 percent of the construction, 奥林匹克森 known as the “Bird’s Nest” — lies east is separated into southern and with investment from corporations that 林公园 of the north end of the central axis northern districts by Beijing’s North

Part Four Welcoming the World W here the Action Is

比 The uniquely designed Beijing National Stadium, 赛 known as the “Bird’s Nest,” hosts the track 场 and field events at the 2008 Olympics. 地 ● ● ● ●

Fifth Ring Road. Covering an area of in the southern part of Beijing Olympic will be adapted for use as a compre- about 300 hectares, the northern dis- Green. Olympic soccer, handball, and hensive gymnasium for the university 99 trict not only boasts natural ecological the running, equestrian, and swim- after the Games. landscapes but also serves as a water ming events of the modern pentathlon, n China Agricultural University Gym- treatment system. The northern section as well as water polo, will be staged nasium 中国农业大学体育馆, seating is equipped with temporary facilities at the main sports stadium and in the eight thousand, hosts the wrestling for the Olympics, including hockey and Ying Tung Natatorium (once the largest events. archery fields, tennis courts, and the indoor swimming facility in Asia) of the International District of the Olympic Olympic Sports Center. n Beijing Science and Technology Village. The northern and southern dis- University Gymnasium 北京科技大学 tricts are linked by China’s first “ecolog- University Area 体育馆 is the scene of the judo and tae kwon do events. ical corridor,” a bridge astride Beijing’s Some events of the Olympics will North Fifth Ring Road provding pas- be held in the gymnasiums of five n Beijing Institute of Technology Gym- sage for both wildlife and people. universities: nasium 北京理工大学体育馆 is the venue for volleyball. n Peking University Gymnasium Olympic Sports Center 北京大学体育馆 is the venue for table ten- n Beihang University Gymnasium 北京 The Olympic Sports Center 奥体中心 nis. Equipped with equipped with six 航空航天大学体育馆 is the venue for was the main venue for the Asian thousand permanent seats and two weightlifting events. Games held in Beijing in 1990, and lies thousand temporary seats, the facility

奥运在中国 n Fengtai Softball Field 丰台体育中心 W here the Action Is Hong Kong’s Head Start 垒球场 is the venue for softball events. The North Scenic Spot Area includes y early 1938, after the Japanese block- so quickly that the government enjoyed such venues as the Olympic Aquatic Baded Shanghai and other Chinese a budget surplus for the 1947–48 financial Park by the Chaobai River in Shunyi, ports, half of China’s foreign trade was year. Hong Kong’s economy also benefited Beijing Country Equestrian Park, and diverted through Hong Kong. Banks such greatly from the Chinese civil war between the Xiaotangshan Softball Field in as the Bank of China and the Communica- the Nationalists and the Communists, as its Changping. They will be used mainly tions Bank moved to Hong Kong, making industry, which was already reasonably well the colony the exchange-banking center for developed, was given a boost by Chinese for rowing events, canoe/kayak, canoe/ all of China. The massive influx of refugees entrepreneurs escaping the war. The colo- kayak slalom, equestrian, and softball from China exacerbated the colony’s already nial government later estimated that the events and will become an important crowded housing conditions and strained infusion of capital and business experience district for tourism and leisure vacation its resources, but Chinese entrepreneurs from Shanghai gave the colony a head start in north Beijing. also brought capital — even entire factories, of at least a decade over the rest of East Other venues within Beijing include some of which produced military equip- Asia. Workers’ Stadium 北京工人体育场, ment for the Chinese war effort. This helped 比 Hong Kong’s colonial history also ac- which can accommodate the Olympic build an industrial base that would greatly counts for its leadership in another area of assist Hong Kong’s economic recovery after soccer matches; Chaoyang Park 朝阳公赛 commerce — horse racing. Founded in 1884, 园沙滩排球场, the scene of beach vol- the war. the Hong Kong Jockey Club has long been a leyball; and the Thirteen Ming Tombs 场 In early 1946, Hong Kong’s population was world leader in promoting racing and bet- around one million. Trade had returned to ting. Hong Kong’s reputation as an eques- Reservoir 十三陵水库, the triathalon 地 venue.

● ● ● ● almost 60 percent of its prewar level. Dur- trian sporting center was a major factor in ing the same year, Hong Kong got its own the decision to locate the 2008 Olympic airline, Cathay Pacific, a predominantly equestrian events here. Venues outside Beijing British corporation. The economy recovered 100 n John Carroll In addition to the many sites for Olym- pic events in and around Beijing, other cities in China will host events ranging Other Beijing Venues n Beijing Shooting Range Hall 北京射 from water sports to soccer. The Capital Gymnasium 首都体育馆击场 is the scene of eleven shooting Qingdao International is in Beijing’s Haidian District, in the events of the Olympics, including rifle, Sailing Center midst of hotels and parks. The gym pistol, and running target events and accommodates eighteen thousand all the shooting events of the Paralym- On the southern coastline of the Shan- spectators and will be used for volley- pic Games. The trap events take place dong Peninsula sits a beautiful port ball events. in the Clay Target Field inside Beijing city, Qingdao City (pop. 7.2 million) of Shooting Range. Shandong Province. In the northern Western Beijing once was one of the part of the city lies Laoshan Mountain, main pollution sources in Beijing. n Laoshan Velodrome 老山自行车馆 is the cycling venue. which was said to be a mountain of However, after steel plants and other God in the past. The Qingdao Interna- large companies responsible for most n Wukesong Indoor Stadium 北京五 tional Sailing Center 青岛奥林匹克帆 of the pollution moved out of Beijing, 棵松体育中心, part of the Wukesong 船中心 is located on the old site of the the area was converted into a number Culture and Sports Center, hosts the Qingdao Beihai Shipyard by Fushan of venues for the Olympics. basketball events. Bay on the eastern coast of the city. It

Part Four Welcoming the World will host all of the water sports held at 天津奥林匹克中心体育场 lies in the seaside architecture are fully repre- sea during the games. Olympic Center of southwest Tian- sented. In addition, the sports center W here the Action Is jin. It was designed by Axs Sawto Inc. has an indoor stadium with a seating Shanghai Stadium (Japan), with a grandstand capable capacity of 5,425 as well as a compre- As the biggest city in China, Shanghai of holding sixty thousand spectators. hensive gymnasium and two outdoor (17.8 million) serves not only as a cen- With close proximity to Beijing and a soccer training fields. ter of economics, finance, and cultural similar climate, Tianjin (pop. 10.3 mil- education in eastern China but also as lion) served as a training base for the Shenyang Olympic Stadium the most important hub for marine and Olympic teams of several other na- Once the capital of the Qing dynasty air transportation in China. Located at tions, including Norway. 清 (1644–1912), Shenyang (pop. 5.3 the junction of Metro Line 1 and Inner million) is now the capital of Liaon- Ring Road in southwest Shanghai, the Qinghuangdao ing Province and a popular soccer city Shanghai Stadium 上海体育场 was Olympic Stadium in northeast China. Mukden Palace, the main venue for the eighth National As a summer resort on the coast of the former imperial palace of the Games in 1997. It consists of the main the Bohai Sea, Qinghuangdao City (2.6 early Qing Dynasty (now a UNESCO stadium, which has a seating capac- million) is the scene for some of the UNESCO World Heritage Site) is lo- 比 ity of eighty thousand, the indoor soccer preliminaries of the Olympics. cated here. The Olympic Sports Center stadium, capable of holding up to ten The Olympic Center Stadium 秦皇岛市 Stadium 沈阳奥林匹克体育中心, in 赛 thousand people, and the Shanghai 奥体中心体育场 is a six-story stadium Wulih 五里河 district, will be one of Aquatic Stadium. It will host some of that holds thirty-five thousand specta- the soccer preliminary venues in the 场 the soccer competitions. tors. The stadium, with the blue sky as Olympics. 地 its background in the daytime, resem- ● ● ● ● Tianjin Olympic bles a white sail rising on the sea. With Hong Kong Sports Institute Center Stadium the light of the floodlights at night, it The Olympics steeplechase and dres- Covering a land area of 34.5 hectares, resembles a large shining seashell rest- sage events’ main competition venues 101 the Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium ing by the sea — the characteristics of take place in Hong Kong (pop. 7 million) at the Hong Kong Sports Institute 香港奥运马术比赛场. In addition the cross-country events will be held in the Beas River Country Club of the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the adja- cent Hong Kong Golf Club.

n TAN Hua 谭华

The colorful, eye-catching Beijing National Aquatics Centre, nicknamed the “Water Cube,” hosts the Olympic water sport events.

奥运在中国 Juan Antonio Samaranch, was eager to The logo draws on elements of Chinese Setting the Stage see China, the world’s most populous culture, depicting a traditional red Chi- Setting the country, host the Olympics. Although nese seal above the words Beijing 2008 many nations praised the decision, a and the Olympic rings. The seal is in- 中 Stage few groups objected, arguing that Chi- scribed with a stylized calligraphic ren- na’s human rights issues made the na- dition of the character jing in the form tion unfit for the honor. To quell such of a dancing figure. The curves are also objections, the city of Beijing chose meant to suggest the body of a wrig- the motto “New Beijing, Great Olym- gling Chinese dragon. The open arms 国 pics” 新北京, 新奥运 to emphasize the of the figure symbolize the invitation country’s move toward a new image for of China to the world to share in its the new millennium. culture. Red, the dominant color of the emblem, is an important color in Chi- Logo nese society, signifying good fortune. 金筹备奥运 The official logo of the games, called The logo was designed to symbolize 筹 “Dancing Beijing“ 中国印舞动的北京 China’s journey to the future, the prom- features a stylized calligraphic charac- ise of the nation, the beauty of the 备 ter jing 京, meaning “capital.” (Beijing city, the heroism of the athletes, and On 13 July 2001, a nation of means “northern capital.” The logo was China’s desire to welcome the world to 1.3 billion people heaved a collective 奥 unveiled in August 2003 in a ceremony its capital city. sigh of relief as the International Olym- attended by 2,008 people at Qi Nian 运 pic Committee (IOC), meeting in Mos- ● ● ● ● Dian 祈年殿 — the Hall of Prayer for Mascots cow, announced which city would host Good Harvests in Tian Tan 天坛, the the 2008 Olympics: Beijing, China. Fuwa 福娃 were unveiled as the mas- Temple of Heaven in Beijing. cots of the games by the National 102 After the first round of voting by the IOC, only Beijing, Toronto, Paris, and Istanbul had remained in contention; Osaka was eliminated after having received only six votes. In the second round Beijing received an absolute majority of votes — with fifty-six — and no subsequent voting was required. Although some people claimed that the bids from Paris and Toronto were technically superior, the IOC, under

With an influx of English-speaking athletes and tourists during the Olympics, Beijing residents of all ages and professions are taking classes in English.

Part Four Welcoming the World Society of Chinese Classic Literature Studies on 11 November 2005, at an Olympic Volunteers from the Hawkeye State Setting the Stage event marking the one thousandth day before the opening of the games. n the Olympics of the early twentieth Upon learning that Big Xu — as everyone Fuwa consist of five members: Beibei, Icentury, host cities enlisted volunteers calls him — would be running the Main Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, and Nini. for such simple assignments as couriers, flag- Press Centre for the Games, I half-jokingly The five mascots incorporate fish, -gi bearers, and safety marshals. After World asked him if I could volunteer as his assis- War II, Olympics volunteers became increas- tant. He replied with a request that I recruit ant panda, fire, Tibetan antelope, and ingly important in a much broader variety of students whose native language was English swallow designs, respectively, and each capacities. The preparations by the Beijing to assist the Olympic News Service (ONS) also represents one of the five Olympic Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic with competition coverage. rings. When the five names are put to- Games (BOCOG) have elevated the celebra- The ONS supplies detailed information to gether, they form a pun on the phrase, tion and deployment of volunteers to new the international media on every Olympic Beˇijı¯ng hua¯nyíng nıˇ, 北京欢迎你, which heights. and Paralympic event, with English as the means, “Beijing welcomes you.” There are an estimated 100,000 vol- first language (followed by French and Chi- unteer positions at the Beijing Games nese). Big Xu asked me to deliver sixty to Slogan and Songs (70,000 at the Olympics and 30,000 at the one hundred students! I said twenty or so 筹 In June 2005, the Beijing Olympic Com- Paralympics — with close to half a million was more realistic. mittee announced that the slogan more expected to work as “city volun- The result: twenty-four students from our 备 for the 2008 Olympics would be “One teers” offering information, language, and university in the U.S. heartland — after pro- emergency services at stations across the 奥 World, One Dream” 同一个世界, 同一 longed preparations in journalism, Olympics municipality, and a million more “social vol- 个梦想. Since 2003, there has been a and sports studies, and Chinese language, 运 unteers” for related tasks leading up to and history, and culture — are spending the ● ● ● ● competition underway for songs that during the Games). Among this vast number would spread the Olympic spirit of summer of 2008 in Beijing making their con- are about three hundred students recruited tributions to the Olympic movement. Eleven Citius, Altius, Fortius (Swifter, Higher, from a dozen universities and colleges in will cover tennis for the ONS; five will cover 103 Stronger), promote the theme of the United States, United Kingdom, and wrestling (an especially appropriate as- “Technological Olympics, Humanistic Australia to assist with media work. signment given an Iowa tradition that has Olympics, and Green Olympics,” and The University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, produced a string of Olympics champions in celebrate the culture and humanism of where I teach, is one of six U.S. schools in this sport); six will work in the International China. the program. In 2005, my longtime friend Broadcasting Centre; and two will work in XU Jicheng — a senior sports reporter and the Main Press Centre. Broadcasting editor for Xinhua News Agency whose ad- These young people know they are in for ditional role as a China Central TV commen- The Olympics will be broadcast world- the experience of a lifetime. Meanwhile, I’ll tator on National Basketball Association wide by a number of television and be in the best seat in the house — my own broadcasts makes him recognizable house in Iowa, watching TV. radio networks: throughout the country — went to work for n Judy Polumbaum n Mainland Chinese state-owned BOCOG’s Media Operations Department. CCTV, predominantly CCTV-5, will have the same coverage rights as the rest of its broadcast partners around the n CBC and Radio-Canada and its n NBC Universal, with NBC and its world. properties, along with TSN and RDS in cable properties in the United States, n Channel Seven in Australia will Canada, will broadcast across Canada. will handle the U.S. broadcast. broadcast the events.

奥运在中国 n In the United Kingdom the BBC will Setting the Stage carry the Olympics. China will also stream all events over the Internet.

Tickets The Beijing Olympic Organizing Com- mittee announced in August 2006 that it would sell more than 7 million tickets for the Olympics. The chief of the committee said she hoped that all people in China will have a chance to attend the games. The committee therefore set the admission prices very low to encourage the Chinese to be- 筹 come involved in the Olympics. For the opening ceremony, ticket prices range 备 from 200 Renminbi (RMB) (US$25) to 奥 5,000 RMB (US$625). For the individual sports events, the price range 运 is from 30 RMB (US$3.75) to 800 RMB ● ● ● ● (US$100), determined by the degree of popularity of the sport in China. In addition to the public, tickets were set 104 aside for sponsors, officials, and members of the IOC.

One of the oldest pastimes in China, kite-flying, takes wing with the new logo of the Olympics.

Part Four Welcoming the World Public Transportation modern design with historical Chinese The Torch Relay Setting the Stage In preparation for the games Beijing’s symbolism. After being lit in Olympia, Greece, subway system has undergone expan- The torch was carried by torchbear- the torch relay (called the “Journey of sions to more than double its size. ers around the world in the Olympic Harmony” 和谐之旅) traveled to the The system had been composed of torch relay that precedes the start Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens and four lines and sixty-four stations. An of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. then to Beijing, arriving on 31 March. additional seven lines and more than The torch, fashioned from a polished The torch traveled to twenty coun- eighty stations have been constructed, aluminum-magnesium alloy, measures tries around the world, including the including a direct link to Beijing Capital 720 millimeters by 50 millimeters by United Kingdom, France, United States, International Airport. 40 millimeters and weighs 1,000 grams. Australia, India, and Japan, creating no The 2008 Olympic torch was also de- small amount of controversy in Eu- Firing the Imagination: signed to evoke the traditional Chinese rope and the United States. The torch The Olympic Torch concept of the five elements that make relay includes visits to cities on the Silk On 26 April 2007, the Beijing Organiz- up the universe: metal (gold), wood, Road, symbolizing ancient links being Committee for the Games of the water, fire, and earth, with primary tween China and the rest of the world, XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), in the pres- coloring of deep red and bright silver, with an attempt to carry the flame to 筹 ence of the International Olympic Com- and an embossed pattern of clouds, the top of Mount Everest, as well as to mittee, unveiled the Lenovo-designed which represents the ever-developing Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and 113 备 Chinese culture. “Inspired by the shape cities in China, arriving at its final des- Beijing 2008 Olympic torch, called 奥 the “Cloud of Promise” 祥云. Since its of a traditional Chinese scroll, the im- tination in Beijing for the opening of inception in 1936, the Olympic torch agery of the ‘Cloud of Promise’ repre- the 2008 Olympic Games. 运 ● ● ● ● has come to represent the history and sents the traditions of China, while the n XIONG Xiaozheng 熊晓正 culture of the host country and city. shape, texture and technology evoke Lenovo’s approach for the Beijing 2008 the Olympic spirit,” said Yao Yingjia, Olympic torch incorporates a sleek and executive director of the Lenovo Inno- 105 vation Design Center in Beijing.

奥运在中国 Gravity Games, an extreme-sports amazement.” Herbert Heier, CEO of the Sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics competition), the Nanshan Open (a German sportswear manufacturer Adi- Sponsorship snowboarding event), and the 720 das, whose sponsorship is reportedly China Surf Open. The Asian X Games, between $80 and $100 million in cash 中of the Beijing which have previously been held in and services, sounded a similar note: Thailand, Malaysia, and South Korea, “The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will were held for the first time in the Peo- once again be a worldwide visible proof Olympics ple’s Republic of China in May 2008, at- of our dedication to athletes, products, tracting more than two hundred of the innovation and leadership. At the same 国 world’s top extreme-sports athletes. time, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games provides us with a unique platform to 北 The Korean automaker Kia Motors was just one of the sponsors of the 2007 build the Adidas brand image and busi- 京北京奥 X Games, which were also backed by ness in China, as well as the whole of ESPN, ESPN STAR Sports, and the Asia,” he said in 2005, when the spon- 奥金运赞助商 Chinese Extreme Sports Association. sorship was announced. 运 Kia Motors, a secondary sponsor of the The Bank of China (BOC), the most Asian X Games since 2005, renewed internationalized of China’s commer- 赞 its support with a three-year primary cial banks and the second-largest bank Although there have been sponsorship both to build the event in in China, is another institution ben- sponsors as long as there have been 助 China and to gain product exposure. efiting from the first Olympics being modern Olympic Games — the U.S. According to Kia Motors, in 2005 alone, held in China. In July 2004, it became 商 company Eastman Kodak was a spon- ● ● ● ● ● ● ● exposure from the Asian X Games was the sole banking partner of the Beijing sor the first of the modern Olympic worth approximately US$12 million. Olympics. As such, it is the exclusive Games in 1896 — it has only been in provider of both commercial and in- the last twenty-four years that com- With these successes under its belt, 106 vestment bank services and products. panies have been able to pay for the and given the enormity of the Chi- It is also a large player in the BOCOG privilege of calling themselves the “of- nese market, the Beijing Organizing licensure and ticketing programs, part- ficial (retailer, outfitter, beverage, car, Committee for the Games of the XXIX nering with Visa, the premier credit camera) of the Olympics.” Coinciden- Olympiad (BOCOG) had little trouble card company, to improve and upgrade tally, 2008 is also be the twenty-fourth lining up sponsors and partners to help the financial infrastructure necessary year since China returned to the games finance and coordinate the Games. for ticketing, automatic teller machines after more than thirty years away. More The Beijing 2008 sponsorship program (ATMs), and other point-of-sale ser- importantly, it is the first time that consists of three tiers of support: part- vices. Multinational partnerships such China has hosted the game, another ners (who pay approximately $40 mil- as this also provide Chinese compa- milestone in the seemingly endless list lion), sponsors (who pay approximately nies with an opportunity to learn and of firsts for China as its global influ- $20–30 million), and suppliers (who benefit from the experience of long- ence grows. offer goods and services). Johnson & time Olympic sponsors like Visa, which Johnson, one of the Beijing Olympics’ has been a global Olympic sponsor for China as an International U.S. sponsors, was eager to take advan- more than twenty years. Host of Sporting Events tage of the billions of viewers who, in China has hosted several large-scale the words Brian Perkins, the company’s Chinese manufacturers such as Haier, sporting events recently, including vice president of corporate affairs, will which produces home appliances, the Shanghai Showdown (China’s first be “looking at Beijing and China with televisions, mobile phones, and the-

Part Four Welcoming the World ater systems, are also major sponsors most viewers of the Olympics won’t Challenges for Foreign Sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics of the 2008 Olympics. As a sponsor, see the home appliances Haier is Sponsors and Partners Haier will provide funds, home appli- providing, but the benefits of sponsor- With the games in Beijing, foreign ances, and other services to the Beijing ship extend from simply being able to companies are finding that they must 2008 Olympic Games, the Beijing 2008 promote itself as an official sponsor to also weigh the advantages of the pub- Paralympic Games, BOCOG, and the leapfrogging its efforts at global brand licity and attention that sponsorship Chinese Olympic Committee. Haier is recognition. When the sponsorship brings against potential backlash from based in Qingdao, the sister-city host was announced, BOCOG Executive protestors, activists, and politicians of the Olympics, where sailing events Vice-President and Secretary-General who are using the games as an oppor- will be held. Chances are good that WANG Wei 王微 said. “Sponsoring tunity to sound off against the Chinese the world’s greatest government. sporting event also 北 It should be pointed out these are not provides Haier with an 京 unparalleled platform the first games to meet opposition. The so-called Nazi Olympics of 1936 are to build up its prestige 奥 often mentioned but there are many on a global basis.” examples, including the 1976 boycott 运 Other Chinese of the Montreal Games by the Orga- companies that are nization of African Unity (OAU) based 赞 sponsors and part- on the sporting links many countries 助 ners of the Beijing had at that time with South Africa, Games — hoping that where apartheid (racial segregation) 商 2008 will catapult remained entrenched. The Moscow ● ● ● ● ● ● ● them into foreign Games of 1980 and Los Angeles Games markets — include are other noteworthy examples, and in- the computer manu- deed, any country that has hosted the 107 facturer Lenovo, the Olympics in the past twenty-four years SINOPEC energy com- has had its detractors, ready to protest pany, Air China, Tsing- the host country and ready to call for tao Brewery Company, boycotts of the sponsor companies. and more. Longtime Olympic sponsors such as Coca-Cola, Eastman Kodak, and Gen- eral Electric, with their widespread influence, have often been the targets of such activism. The difference today is that with so much media, Internet, and global connectivity, the Beijing Olym- pics may be the first games for which grassroots activism could have as large an impact on the image of the games as the athletic competition itself. International brands such as Coca-Cola Critics of Beijing protested before the are competing fiercely awarding of the 2008 Games to China, to get exposure during the Games.

奥运在中国 anyone anywhere — true or not — can Sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics Sport Politics impact your brands everywhere ... That [fact] will be increasingly important ports have the ability to act as a The Moscow Olympic Games of 1980 and between now and August 2008 when Smetaphorical background or a pressure the Los Angeles Olympic Games of 1984 three billion people tune in to tele- relief valve for both nations and individu- were tarnished by boycotts related to on vision and the Internet to watch the als. On a number of occasions the sporting going fractious superpower relations. Yet, in Olympic Games in Beijing. There, cen- arena in general and the Olympic Games in 1976 in Montreal the Olympic Games were ter stage will be not only the athletes, particular have provided a stage where the boycotted by the Organization of African but corporations as well.” According two superpowers could compete in a sport- Unity in protest of South Africa’s apartheid to Future 500, companies need to ap- ing environment in front of the eyes of the regime. Although the 1976 boycott was proach the games with a measured world. In a number of instances politics has clearly political, perhaps the best examples 北 amount of support for both the activist adversely affected the proceedings. Indeed, of Cold War tensions in sports were the 京 one can argue that without politics a broad boycotts of the early 1980s. At both Moscow causes and their Chinese hosts. One interest in international sports would not and Los Angeles the Olympic Games acted issue that has been problematic for the 奥 exist today. The use of the Olympic Games as a showcase for the political ideologies of Beijing games has been the genocide as a tool in boycott politics during the 1970s Communism and capitalism, respectively. in the Darfur region of Sudan and 运 and 1980s was possible only because of the Too often in the history of the Olympic China’s continued investment there. 赞 influence of the mass media on global so- Games opportunities to learn about people When confronted by activists about ciety during the latter half of the twentieth in other countries and to develop a sense of another issue of concern — labor con- century. social responsibility have been undermined 助 ditions in China — Adidas said that the The Olympic Games during the Cold War by the subordination of sports and recre- 商 ation to political and commercial goals. company would pressure its suppliers ● ● ● ● ● ● ● provide examples of this inherent tension in China, with whom the company has within the developing sporting exchange. n Jonathan M. Thomas direct influence, but that it would not attempt to pressure the Chinese gov- 108 ernment. That approach — working to and continued to protest about issues have two choices, both with unappeal- address poor labor conditions, human including censorship and media con- ing ramifications: they can acknowl- rights abuses, or other problems with- trol, unfair working conditions, China’s edge the activists and risk alienating out directly confronting the Chinese role in Sudan, and control of religious the Beijing government, or ignore the government — may be the least risky practice in Tibet. activists and alienate the Western con- and therefore most palatable. sumers who rally to their cause. Public Despite their deep pockets and global Olympic sponsorship, while risking relations firms and organizations such clout, international sponsors such as controversy based on the political as the group Future 500, a nonprofit Adidas, Coca-Cola, General Electric, climate of the times, is generally too liaison service between corporations Johnson & Johnson, and McDonalds appealing to pass up. With an audi- and stakeholders, are trying to tread care about their corporate image and ence in the billions, foreign companies the narrow middle ground. Future 500’s the reputations of their brands and increase their brand recognition and China initiative is designed to foster must take into account opposition future profits in China, while Chinese constructive interaction between cor- to Beijing’s hosting of the Olympics. companies use the Olympic platform porations and nongovernmental orga- But they also have to think beyond to introduce their brands to the rest of nizations and other activist groups. As the Olympics, to how they are going the world. to grow their businesses in and with Future 500 reminds companies on its n Scott Eldridge II China. It often seems that companies website, “For industries that operate on the global stage, anything said by

Part Four Welcoming the World trary, the Chinese government will host of $150 (domestic tourists) and $1,050 the Olympic Games amid rumors of an (overseas tourists). The E conomic Impact of the Olympics The Economic overheating economy (growth acceler- However, assessing the impact of a ated to more than 11 percent in the single event on the macroeconomic 中Impact of the first quarter of 2007). China possesses development of an economy is difficult, the largest foreign reserves of any and in most cases the ex-post analysis Olympics country in the world — the government of costs and contributions to economic can spend lavishly to produce ultra- development has had to be revised modern stadiums for the games and to considerably. Some observers even ar- 国 upgrade Beijing’s infrastructure. gue that there is no proof of long-term However, officials estimate that the economic benefits at all from large- 北 2008 Olympic Games will add 0.8 scale sporting events. 北京奥 percent to Beijing’s annual growth The official budget for hosting the 京 rate between 2004 and 2008, adding Olympics is a state secret too sensi- 奥金运与经济 $13.2 billion to the capital’s economic tive to be revealed even to the National output and 1.82 million jobs. Tourism, People’s Congress, formally the highest 运 infrastructure, finance and insurance, state organ in China. Some of the in- retail, and wholesale are among the 与 Clearly China, perhaps the vestments are disappearing in the laby- economic sectors that will profit most world’s hottest market, does not need rinthine bureaucracy of China’s two-tier from the games. Investments in hotels 经 a major sports event to catapult an ail- economy and are impossible to quan- are running high because Beijing ex- ing economy back into growth mode, tify; in any event, statistics on China’s 济 pects an additional two million tour- ● ● ● ● ● ● ● as was the case with the 2006 FIFA record-breaking economic develop- ists, 300,000 of them from overseas, World Cup in Germany. On the con- ment over the last twenty-odd years to visit in 2008, spending an average 109 The Olympics as Civic Boon

ities the world over mount energetic Games of 1920. Pierre de Coubertin’s intent tion gained through a public referendum, Cand elaborately detailed plans in order to hold the 1920 (Antwerp), 1924 (Paris), and the main events were held in the relatively to win the approval of the International 1928 (Amsterdam) Games in Europe stalled new Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. An Olympic Committee to host the Olympic the Los Angeles bid. But the persistence of Olympic Village was built for the first time, Games. Such campaigns are underpinned William M. Garland and his Los Angeles col- but only for men; the women were accom- by various motivations: civic and national leagues finally paid off and the city received modated in the Chapman Hotel in down- pride and prestige, political gain, economic the Games for 1932. town Los Angeles. Were the expectations of benefit. The quest by Los Angeles to host By the eve of the Games of the Tenth Olym- California’s tourist and land speculators re- the Olympic Games provides an early exam- piad, the United States, indeed much of alized as a result of bringing the great world ple. A desire to promote the City of Angels the world, was in the midst of a devastat- sporting spectacle to Los Angeles? One has as a tourist and vacation mecca, as a climati- ing economic Depression. Despite this, the only to gaze on the City of Los Angeles and cally healthful place in which to live, and as Games went on, and, it might be argued, the State of California today to arrive at the an area of great economic potential through in glorious fashion. Funding much of the answer. the investment of capital for handsome divi- festival from a $1 million state appropria- n Robert Barney dends prompted Los Angeles to bid for the

奥运在中国 have a remarkable history of academic to be a hot spot for hotel investment tained and sustainable improvement in The E conomic Impact of the Olympics doubts and ex-post corrections. anyway, having become a must-see human capital. destination. More important, the lack The boom in the construction sector Tourism and Construction of qualified service personnel is said has been a double-edged sword for The most obvious economic im- to remain unresolved in spite of efforts China’s long-term economic modern- pact of the 2008 Olympics is on two by the municipal and central govern- ization. Overall investments in 2002–06 major sectors — construction and ments. Undoubtedly the campaigns reached a level that caused concern tourism — but even in those sectors, to introduce international standards among economic analysts and policy quantifying the direct impact of the in behavior and communication and makers alike, but the central govern- games is difficult because both sectors to widen the spread of English among ment’s attempts to rein in growth taxi drivers, restaurant staff, shop own- 北 have experienced continuous growth through economic measures such as in recent years. Reports of 10,000 hotel ers, and so on will have lasting effects hikes in interest rates and political 京 beds added in Beijing appear impres- on the development of Beijing’s service measures such as pressure on local sive, but then, China is considered sector if the campaigns result in a sus- 奥运与经济 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

110

The new headquarters of Chinese Central Television, the chief broadcaster of the Beijing Olympics, under construction.

Part Four Welcoming the World and regional leaders has had only lim- ited success. Sports Media in China The E conomic Impact of the Olympics

A Positive Influence ewspapers in both developed and de- cast mainly by CCTV-5 — the most important or a Negative One? Nveloping nations dedicate some 15–20 and popular sports channel — as well as by Although the modernization of Bei- percent of their editorial space to sports regional and international satellite sports jing’s infrastructure and municipal reporting for the simple reason that sports channels. Many sports fans now also go buildings is definitely an asset to the draws readers. On the whole, coverage to the Internet to read sports news, watch focuses on the sports of most interest to matches, and play electronic sports. people living and working in China’s educated, middle-class readers, and it var- capital, the contributions to gross ies dramatically from country to country and Media at the Games domestic product are, as mentioned even region to region. The world of sports In the 2001 bidding procedures for the 2008 北 above, hard to estimate because no media also includes magazines, television, Games, Beijing assured the International one can know how much money would radio, and the Internet. Olympic Committee “that there will be no 京 have been invested in Beijing without restrictions on media reporting and move- Sports coverage in China, naturally, focuses 奥 its successful bid for the Olympics. on the country’s most popular sports, and ment of journalists up to and including the Olympic Games.” The Beijing Organizing Then too, the benefits accruing from ranges from national and international com- 运 the Olympics are at least partly coun- petitions to information about various na- Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olym- tered by the potential harm that may tional fitness program. China Sports Daily, the piad (BOCOG) established a media opera- 与 be caused by a real estate and invest- first leading sports newspaper, is an official tions department four years before the start of the Games to serve the foreign journal- ment bubble — for example, residents publication of the General Administration 经 ists covering the events and the more than of Beijing have found that affordable of Sport. Other more specialized news- thirty foreign television networks broadcast- 济

papers have appeared, as well, including ● ● ● ● ● ● ● apartments are harder to come by in ing the Games around the world. the run-up to the Olympics. Sports in the South and Football, and there are more than one hundred sports magazines The presence of so many foreign me- Most investors agree that the Chinese in China — not yet rivaling the U.S. or some dia representatives — estimated at over government has done everything in its European countries, but still a large number 20,000 — may well have an effect on Chinese 111 power to prevent a financial crisis dur- with considerable popular influence. media professionals and the companies fo- ing the run-up to the Olympics. One Almost every radio station in China broad- cusing on sports, as Chinese reporters have of the most striking features of China’s casts sports programs, ranging from news a unique opportunity to interact with and financial markets is the dominance of and competitive events to fitness exercises, learn from their Western colleagues. the state as a central actor who owns but televised sports programs are broad- n QIU Xiaohui most of the shares of most of the companies, controls nearly all of the bro- kerages, governs the exchanges, and Transparency and original estimates of $1.34 billion for limits the market entrance of foreign Accountability the cost of the games, the newspa- firms. However, although from a social The lack of transparency and account- per was censored. Pressure from the perspective the prevention of a finan- ability within China’s socialist market National People’s Congress on the cial crisis is one of the most important economy hinders analysis of the eco- Chinese leadership to disclose to it tasks of any government, in the case of nomic impact of the Beijing Olympics. the budget for the games led to noth- China, efforts to prevent such a crisis When a Beijing newspaper quoted a ing. In official statements, the Chinese may mean the delay of desperately government document that cited an government reiterates its position that needed reforms for the sake of public increase of about $700 million on the total expenditures remain close to appearance. those of the 2004 Olympic Games in

奥运在中国 Athens ($1.4 billion planned, $2.2 bil- an attempt to stem the illegal transfer its incredible socioeconomic trans- The E conomic Impact of the Olympics lion spent). of state assets into private bank ac- formation. The more urgent question Calling for improved transparency and counts, and it also addresses one of is the impact of hosting the games accountability, though, was hardly an the most urgent grievances in the ev- on China’s emerging socialist market act of defiance by the Congress. The eryday lives of the people of China. economy. Raising public awareness, Chinese leadership under HU Jintao 胡 introducing measures to improve the 锦涛 sacked a number of high-ranking Questions Remain sustainability of the economic boom, Communist Party officials, among During the preparations for to the battling corruption, and improving the them the mayor of Shanghai and the Olympics, the whole world has seen working conditions of foreign journal- vice secretary of the Beijing Chinese Beijing’s remarkable economic success. ists all may contribute to an increase in transparency and accountability in 北 Communist Party, who headed con- Whether the investments in Beijing’s struction work for the Olympics, refer- infrastructure would have occurred China’s policies — and if transparency 京 ring to their embezzlement of public without the games and whether these and accountability increase, then the funds and to massive corruption. stimuli truly add .8 percent to Beijing’s economic impact of the games will be 奥 tremendous. Publicly acknowledging party officials’ growth rate are of secondary signifi- 运 corrupt behavior in the last few years cance. Obviously China does not need n Jörn-Carsten Gottwald serves several political purposes: it is the Olympics to add dynamism to 与经济 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

112

Part Four Welcoming the World P art F ive

The Olympic Ideal and the Three Themes of the Beijing Olympic Games 奥林匹克理想与北京奥运三大理念

n the 112-year history of the modern Olympics, the Games have been criticized and even boycotted for different I reason, but our enduring love of sports and abiding desire to see countries come together in peace tends to trump political disagreements. The 2008 Games are unique in Olympic history because they are being held in a country poised to rise to new prominence on the global stage. The Olympics are a creation of Western civilization, but as China resumes a bigger international role, these Games — only the third to take place in Asia — give it a chance to integrate some of the Olympic ideals into its perspective on global leadership and also an opportunity to influence an event that has unique meaning for many people around the world. Olympic torch relay in England and and confidence, and thus the abil- The Olympic Ideal France, rising nationalistic feelings ity to respond to the social, politi- The Olympic in China drew media attention, and cal, and economic challenges of the Chinese people around the world early twentieth century. Coubertin and 中 Ideal complained about the bias and anti- his supporters were also aware that Chinese racism of the Western press. friendly international contacts would Ironically, it is just this sort of interna- reduce prejudice, increase trust, and tional tension and nationalism that the diminish the dangers of excessive na- Olympics were instituted to allay. tionalism. The Olympic Charter — the 国 Pierre de Coubertin created the mod- rules and regulations of the Olympic ern Olympic Games as more than Games and the International Olym- simply a spectacle or a romanticized pic Committee — puts it this way: 奥奥林 imitation of the glories of ancient “The goal of the Olympic Movement Greece. He was an educator with a is to contribute to building a peace- 林金匹克理想 global vision, acting at a time when ful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without 匹 the world was suffering from upheav- als and conflicts — and when more discrimination of any kind and in the 克 conflicts loomed. He saw peaceful Olympic spirit, which requires mutual In the aftermath of violence competition as something that would understanding with a spirit of friend- in Tibet in spring of 2008 and at the 理 give the world’s young people maturity ship, solidarity and fair play.” 想 ● ● ● ● ● ● Pierre de Coubertin and the Birth of the Modern Olympics

114 aron Pierre de Coubertin (1863–1937) and become responsible and democratic Olympic Games and the International Olym- Bof France is known as the founder of citizens. Coubertin and his supporters also pic Committee (IOC) — addresses this goal: the modern Olympic Games. However, even hoped that the Olympic Games would foster “The goal of the Olympic Movement is to before Coubertin, people had attempted “international contacts,” allowing people contribute to building a peaceful and bet- to reestablish the ancient Olympics of to represent their country and get to know ter world by educating youth through sport Greece. However, these attempts — in people of other countries and encourage practiced without discrimination of any Greece, France, England, and the United a reduction of hatred, distrust, and preju- kind and the Olympic spirit, which requires States — failed because they lacked the dice. Nationalism and internationalism do mutual understanding with a spirit of friend- internationality that has been the elixir of not, in Coubertin’s opinion, exclude each ship, solidarity and fair-play.” today’s modern Olympic Games. other. Coubertin believed that, properly The Olympic Games were reestablished and Coubertin did not reintroduce the Olympic understood, peaceful internationalism cor- the IOC founded in 1894 at the Olympic Con- Games merely to stage an ancient sports rects a narrow-minded nationalism but also gress in Paris. Coubertin was the organizer festival but rather to offer nations of the acknowledges the differences and charac- of the congress and was supported foremost world a chance to compete peacefully. He teristics of other nations, thus disassociating by Charles Herbert of England and William hoped that young people would develop itself from superficial cosmopolitanism. By Milligan Sloane of the United States. Athens a maturity that would lead to an ability to reintroducing the Olympic Games Coubertin was chosen as the first host city for the re- cope with social, political, and economic planned to consolidate and extend interest birth of the Olympics Games in 1896. in international competition. The Olympic challenges of the early twentieth century n Karl Lennartz and Stephan Wassong Charter — the rules and regulations of the

Part Five The Olympic Ideal and the Three Themes of the Beijing Olympic Games China is increasingly trying to weave together Western ways of thinking with The Olympic Ideal Chinese values that derive from its traditional philosophies, such as Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. One expression of this comes in the three themes that the Beijing Olympics Com- mittee chose, along with the Olympic slogan, “One World, One Dream,” to relate China’s traditional philosophies and five-thousand-year history to the ideals of the games and to the challenges of the twenty-first century. 奥 These three themes are “technological Olympics” 科技奥运, “humanistic 林 Olympics” 人文奥运, and “green Olym- pics” 绿奥运. 匹

n Karen Christensen 克理想 ● ● ● ● ● ●

115

Opening Ceremony of the 1948 Olympiad.

奥林匹克理想与 one hand, athletes’ application of new of the application of technology at The Technological Olympics sports technology makes competition the 2008 Olympic Games. Most of the The more exciting and enjoyable, but on technology goes into serving the needs the other, some worry that such an ap- of the Olympic spectators. Olympic se- 中Technological proach encourages athletes to ignore curity, transportation, communication, the nature of the human body. the construction of venues and other Olympics A high-tech Olympics has several assisting facilities, the management of goals. First, it aims to demonstrate the the games, even the way people think advanced technology and innovation about the games are all affected by the 国 of the new China, which made possible use of modern technology. This has a clean, beautiful, safe, and convenient been true from the time that Berlin Olympic environment. Second, it seeks broadcast live Olympic programs on to integrate advanced Chinese and worldwide television in 1936 and has foreign technology. Third, it hopes to only become more true with each tech- 金科技奥运 stimulate further development of high nological advance in communications, engineering, and so forth. The spread 科 technology and to increase the use of such technology in everyday life. of the Internet has made the games 技 even more available to the public; in From the original ancient games The technology used in competition, 2004, nearly everyone had firsthand, 奥 to the modern Olympics, the central however, represents only a small part instant access to event results. focus of Olympic competition, and 运 of competitive sports in general, has ● ● ● ● been the development of the human body in order to achieve victory over Technological Innovation and the Olympics 116 an opponent. Originally, however, many sports were designed for religious and nnovation improves performance, op- The International Olympic Committee is ritual purposes and to foster harmony Iportunity, and interest. The fastskin swim dedicated to protecting the integrity of between body and soul — and even suits which ignited controversy at the 2000 its games by assuring that victories go to balance between man and nature. Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, signifi- athletes and not engineers. The IOC al- Yet a technological approach to sport cantly reduce drag in the water and thus the lows each sport to write its own rules for has been present at least as far back swimmer’s time. Sprinters now wear Lycra technology policy but requires that new as the 1890s, when Baron de Cou- bodysuits to cut down on wind resistance. innovations be available to all the athletes bertin, who revived the Olympic Games Composite skis transformed skiing into a to make sure no one athlete has an unfair advantage. The individual sports are thus in 1896, said, “Exercise science has popular recreational activity and allowed for charged with determining which innovations devised several means for strength- innovative designs which led, decades later, to shape skis that allow previously blue will be permitted on the field of play during ening professional performance. It sanctioned competition. After the 1960s the views the body as a complex perfor- skiers to quest black diamond trails. In the 1980s, by moving the center of gravity of the policy of ignoring technological innovation mance machine comprised of many javelin forward, those athletes with precise as many organizations did (cycling and golf parts. Each part is independent and technique were able to achieve victories are notable exceptions) created crises for interchangeable.” that went previously to physically stronger many sports governing bodies. Feelings about the role of technol- athletes. n J. Nadine Gelberg: ogy in sports are often mixed. On the

Part Five The Olympic Ideal and the Three Themes of the Beijing Olympic Games The Technological Olympics

New municipal facilities for dealing 科 with an influx of tourists and athletes 技 have been constructed with water use and 奥 environmental impact in mind. 运 ● ● ● ●

The main stadium for the Beijing Olym- spared Beijing from further excavation definition broadcasting. Mobile phone pics, the “Bird’s Nest” 鸟巢, is a good and building. GUAN Zhaoye 关肇邺, transmission in color will be among a 117 example of technology in the service of the president of the Appraising Com- series of advanced-technology services the Olympics. It is a steel web that can mittee and a China Engineering Insti- provided during these games. hold 100,000 people. The outside looks tute scholar, remarked that the Bird’s In sum, the technology that sup- like a nest formed of branches. Its gray Nest had not one bit of wasted mate- ports the games, whether physically, steel grid is like a transparent outer rial or space. The shape is a product of as in the actual infrastructure and membrane, surrounding a red bowl- its function; its form and its structure transportation systems, or electroni- shaped stadium. The entire building is are unified. cally, for communications and media free of supportive pillars; the bleachers High-tech media broadcasting is also systems, represents perhaps an even form a bowl without any obstructions, crucial to a successful Olympics, and more important portion of a “tech- creating a unique theaterlike feel and a China has been making rapid advances nological Olympics” than the techno- huge field of vision. in this area. In the overall strategy of logical advances that help the athletes Another special feature of the Bird’s the Beijing Games, digital technology themselves. Nest is the designed-in “bulges” that will play an important role in Olym- n JIN Yuanpu 金元浦 contain 20,000 seats’ worth of addi- pic entertainment. The 2008 Beijing tional spectator facilities. This bit of ar- Olympic Games will be the first in chitectural ingenuity saved money and the history of the games to use high-

奥林匹克理想与 Tang 唐 dynasty (618–907), the Chinese the universe, respected human inter- The Humanistic Olympics used the term to mean “harmony be- ests and needs, and recognized the The tween man and nature.” As the notion human potential for creativity and evolved, some Chinese began to theo- development. 中Humanistic rize that man was at the center of the Today, humanity is reevaluating the universe and therefore should be given classical concept of humanism. As our Olympics a place of utmost importance. environment worsens day by day, we In the West, the term “humanistic” first begin to question if humans should appeared as the Latin word humanitas be seen as the center of the universe. 国 in the works of the Roman philosopher The relationship between mankind and Cicero (106–43 bce). Cicero advocated nature is shifting: people must learn to the ancient Greek style of education, live in harmony with nature. which Cicero admired for develop- On the one hand, this humanistic ing human character and promoting Olympics has the burden of spreading 金人文奥运 students’ “pure nature.” He found a knowledge of the ancient Greek Olym- 人 certain correspondence between the pics to the Chinese population; on the Latin word humanitas and the Greek pai- other, it also gives the people of China 文 deia, “education.” Historically, human- Taking into account the role of the opportunity to share traditional ism refers to the Renaissance ideology the Olympic Games as a unique vehicle and modern Chinese culture with the 奥 that placed humanity at the center of of cultural diffusion, China has desig- world: “The world gives China sixteen 运 nated the 2008 Games as the “human- ● ● ● ● istic” or “people’s Olympics.” While the concept known as “humanism” is 118 Western, Chinese culture has a concept that closely parallels it, “humanistic” 人文 meaning “affairs in the human world.” This term first appeared in the Shang 殷 and Zhou 周 dynasties, approximately 3,000 years ago. In the

A Beijing power plant chimney gets painted blue with fluffy clouds to give it a more harmonious look against the sky.

Part Five The Olympic Ideal and the Three Themes of the Beijing Olympic Games days; we will give the world five thou- The Humanistic Olympics sand years.” (世界给我16天, 我还世界 The World as One Family 5000年) In the realm of sports alone, China hina’s first history of the United States, how the colonies in North America grew, has much to share with the world. CMeilike Heshengguo Zhilue (“A Short Ac- prospered, and greatly expanded their Among China’s traditional and folk count of the United States of America”) was trade and commerce. In describing how the sports are ancient gymnastics, qi gong published in 1834 by E. C. Bridgman, the King of England began to impose unfair United States’ first missionary to China. taxes upon the people, Bridgman noted (气功), Chinese martial arts, wrestling, Bridgman believed that if he could impress that one of the taxes was levied on one of dragon-boat racing (龙舟赛), moun- his Chinese audience with American ac- China’s important exports — tea, which was tain climbing, and various ball sports. complishments, the Chinese would be more brought to the colonies aboard British ves- Many modern Western sports, such as amenable to Western ideas and diplomatic sels. Bridgman knew that his description of football, are similar to ancient Chinese practices. He wrote that he had always the rectitude of George Washington, who games. In addition, China’s fifty-six regarded the world as one family, and refused to make himself king, would remind ethnic minority groups have their own China as one person within that family, and his Chinese readers of Yao and Shun, two folk games and athletic competitions. included chapters on such diverse subjects legendary sage-kings of ancient China who as Native Americans, agriculture, trade, gov- sought the most meritorious of their sub- A humanistic Olympics is a positive ernment, literature, the arts, and humani- jects to succeed them instead of creating a 人 answer to the expectations of modern tarian organizations. In his account of the ruling dynasty. Olympic Games. A humanistic Olym- 文 American Revolution (“Commoner Over- n Michael Lazich pics seeks to promote the physical, throw of English Rule”) Bridgman explained 奥 mental, and ethical development of humans and a harmonious relation- 运 ship between humans and their liv- ● ● ● ● also all the populations of the world 和谐, 友爱, 平衡) supplement the ing environment. It also encourages the opportunity to participate in its Olympics’ ideals of citius, altius, fortius, cultural exchange between China and endeavors and carry on its spirit. The or “faster, higher, stronger.” the world. A humanistic Olympics is 119 traditional Chinese notions of “peace, an Olympics for all humanity, giving n JIN Yuanpu 金元浦 harmony, love, and balance” (和平, not only the 1.3 billion Chinese but

奥林匹克理想与 faces: trying to secure environmen- Conceiving a Green Green Olympics, W tally friendly, sustainable growth for Olympics Green the years to come. Whereas the 2000 Originally, the environmental organiza- games in Sydney, Australia, and the tion Greenpeace drafted the concept of 中Olympics, 2004 games in Athens, Greece, failed a green Olympics for the 2000 Olympic to deliver on their promises to stage Summer Games in Sydney. The Inter- Green World green Olympics, the Chinese govern- national Olympic Committee subse- ment has been making substantial quently mandated that all summer progress in improving China’s dismal Olympic Games be green Olympics. In 国 ecological record. 2005, the United Nations Environment Programme and the Beijing Organiz- The State of the orld ing Committee for the Olympic Games 绿绿奥运 Environment in China agreed to try to make the summer Reports about China’s environment Olympics of 2008 environmentally 奥金绿世界 have become increasingly alarming. friendly. The Beijing Organizing Com- 运 All but four of the world’s most air- mittee promised to make environmen- polluted cities are in China, and 75 tal protection a priority, not only in the 绿 percent of the surface water in China’s designing and construction of Olym- hina faces serious pollution C cities is not fit for drinking. China’s pol- pic venues, but also through affores- problems, but its position as host of 世 luted water contributes to certain can- tation campaigns, beautification of the 2008 Olympics has provided a cers; the nation has the world’s highest urban and rural areas, increased public 界 strong impetus for ecological reform ● ● ● ● ● ● rate of liver cancer. awareness, and promotion of green while simultaneously creating oppor- consumption. tunities for critics who say that the Since the mid-1990s, Chinese leaders country is not doing enough, or doing have increasingly addressed the health 120 Implementing the Concept it fast enough. hazards resulting from air pollution, inadequate drinking water, desertifica- From the athletes’ perspective, tackling One of the major obstacles to China’s tion, and erosion. However, even where air pollution in the Chinese capital was winning the competition to host the resources meet the political will to one of the prime challenges. The image 2008 Olympic Games was widespread fight pollution, the implementation of of runners in the marathon competing fear among observers that people at- environmental policies is often ham- in clouds of smog has become a con- tending the games would suffer from pered by local interests that put short- sistent nightmare of athletes, journal- the severe air pollution in China’s capi- term economic growth and income ists, and bureaucrats alike. To prevent tal (not, incidentally, a criticism unique creation above long-term ecological this nightmare from becoming a reality, to China; the same anxiety had been objectives. Environmental protection the government sought to improve expressed about the previous host city, and careful and efficient use of natu- the energy structure to reduce carbon Athens, and others as well). ral resources rank high among China’s soot, eliminate 15,000 taxis and 3,000 But for China, declaring that the Beijing policy goals, but are clearly second to buses and replace them with 4,000 Olympic Games would be green was the overall goal of high-speed eco- buses powered by natural gas, close more than a public relations move. nomic growth. major coke ovens, put desulphurization It was widely known to address one technology in place at coal-burning of the most serious problems China power plants, and control the pollution

Part Five The Olympic Ideal and the Three Themes of the Beijing Olympic Games Green Olympics, W orld 绿奥运 Energy-efficient buses 绿 are now part of the Beijing transportation system, in an effort to 世 make the city and the Games more “green.” 界 ● ● ● ● ● ● of flying dust. However, implement- record in implementing environmental jing in the 1990s, the local government ing these measures takes time. Beijing policies before 2005, the government resorted to the use of artificial color 121 still exceeds the limits set by the World met its goal of treating 90 percent of to “green” the yellow grass along the Health Organization for air pollution in Beijing’s water in 2006 and recycling roads and squares to improve the city’s spite of the extension of public trans- half of the water by 2007. environmental credentials. On the eve port, the introduction of ecological Beijing authorities have also promised of the Olympics, at least some of the standards for cars, and the introduc- to put into place a real-time pollution environmental goals have indeed been tion of low- and zero-emission buses monitoring system in rivers and lakes. met. A city as huge as Beijing cannot for use at the Olympic Village and the If this system leads to faster and more be turned into an ecological show- Media Village. transparent reaction to serious spill- case overnight, but authorities have Adequate sewage treatment is another ages of poisonous liquids into the cap- managed to implement policies that daunting challenge. The need to recycle ital’s waterways, then changes made do more than just apply short-term water has become more urgent be- for the Beijing 2008 Olympics will have makeup, and their efforts indicate that cause of successive years of drought in produced a lasting improvement. China is likely to play an active role in Beijing. Therefore, any improvement in international efforts to deal with global sewage treatment is a welcome relief, Long-term Improvement environmental problems in the years ahead. even if the first steps are concentrat- When representatives of the Interna- ing on the inner districts of the capital. tional Olympic Committee visited Bei- n Jörn-Carsten Gottwald And, in contrast to its disappointing

奥林匹克理想与 ing people to their knees in prayer most basic and meaningful elements After the Games: China Gold or stomping their feet in exaltation or qualities Like the term China gold, After the in front of television sets around the these concepts are aspirational and, as globe. But as mentioned in the Fore- such, fit with the ideals of the Olympic 中 Games: word, it is also about something closer Games. to alchemy — the relationship of hu- As we look beyond the Olympics of China Gold manity and nature that accentuates the 2008, we can be certain that the values importance of transformation in both. of the Olympic Movement and the The notion of transformation has in- themes of the Beijing Games will have 奥国 formed some of the West’s greatest educated us. As China, the United 运 writers and philosophers (Shakespeare, States, and the other nations of the Sir Isaac Newton, Carl Jung) and has world face the challenges of the twenty- 会奥运会以后 been developed within Daoism as well. first century, we can bring to those Chinese alchemists followed a tradi- challenges the Olympic ideals and the 以金中国金 tion known as the Way of the Golden understanding of one another’s per- 后 Elixir (jindan 金丹 zhi dao 之道). Gold spectives that the Olympics foster. The (jin) represents the state of constancy alchemist aims to develop the knowl- 中 and immutability that contrasts with edge and techniques that can bring The book you are holding is, the change and transience charac- nature and society into harmony — and of course, about gold medals, world 国 teristic of the physical world. Dan, or into full flower. At its most idealistic, records, and stunning physical achieve- “elixir,” evolves from the root meaning this transformation is what the Olym- 金 ment. It has told the stories of great ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● of the word “essence,” and pertains pics are all about. athletes, great leaders, and great mo- also to the true nature of an entity, its ments in sport. It has shown the sweat, n Karen Christensen 122 the tears, the challenges, and the glory involved not only in hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, but in aspiring to win For current Olympics and China information, author and Olympic gold. The competitions draw editor blogs, modern sports photographs, and historical documents the world’s largest audience — bring- and photographs, visit www.chinagold2008.com

Part Five The Olympic Ideal and the Three Themes of the Beijing Olympic Games Further Reading Further Reading

Barmé, Geremie. The Forbidden City. Lon- Guanxi: The China Letter. Special issue: Luo Shiming. The Olympics Come to China. don: Profile Books, 2008. Olympic Update. (July/August 2007). Beijing: Tsinghua University Press, Booth, Douglas, and Holly Thorpe, eds. Guttmann, Allen. The Olympics: A History 2005. Berkshire Encyclopedia of Extreme Sports. of the Modern Games. Champaign, IL: Pound, Richard. Inside Dope: How Drugs Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire University of Illinois Press, 2002. Are the Biggest Threat to Sports, Why Publishing Group, 2007. Guttmann, Allen. Sports: The First Five You Should Care, and What Can Be Done Brownell, Susan. Beijing Games: What the Millennia. Amherst, MA: University of about Them. Mississauga, Ontario: Olympics Mean to China. Lanham, MD: Massachusetts Press, 2004. John Wiley & Sons Canada, 2006. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Hessler, Peter. Oracle Bones: A Journey Sang Ye. China Candid: The People of the 2008. between China’s Past and Present. New People’s Republic. Berkeley, CA: Univer- Fan Hong, ed. Sport, Nationalism, and York: Harper Collins, 2006. sity of California Press, 2007. Orientalism: The Asian Games. London: Jin Yuanpu. Culture Guide of the Olympics Wasserstrom, Jeffrey. China’s Brave New Routledge, 2006. World — and Other Tales for Global Times. for College Students. Beijing: Higher 123 Fan Hong, and J. A. Mangan. Sport in Education Press, 2006. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007. Asian Society — Past and Present. Lon- Li, Lillian M., Alison J. Dray-Novey, and don: Frank Cass, 2003. Halli Kong. Beijing: From Imperial Capi- Guanxi: The China Letter. Special issue: tal to Olympic City. Basingstoke, UK: How China Will Change the Olym- Palgrave, 2007. pics. (July 2006). About the E ditors About the Editors

FAN Hong 凡红 is a Duncan Mackay is an Karen Christensen professor and director award-winning British worked with hundreds of of the Irish Institute of sports journalist. He sports experts as coeditor Chinese Studies at studied Chinese history of the Berkshire Encyclopedia University College Cork. and politics at university of World Sport and senior She was born in Sichuan and has covered every editor of the International and trained as a swimmer Olympics since Barcelona Encyclopedia of Women and in Beijing before pursuing an academic 1992. He now writes for the Observer Sports. She is CEO of Berkshire Publish- career in the UK. Fan’s recent publica- and is publisher and editor of ing Group and publisher of Guanxi: The tions include Sport, Nationalism and www.insidethegames.com, a website China Letter. Orientalism: The Asian Games (2006). devoted to the Olympic Games. He carried the Olympic torch in London in April 2008. 124 About the Authors About the Authors

CAO Shouhe 曹守和 is a professor of Jörn-Carsten Gottwald is a lecturer REN Hai 任海 is a professor at Beijing sports history at Hangzhou Normal at the College of Business of Law and Sport University. He is known for his University, China. His recent publi- the Irish Institute of Chinese Studies at work in Olympic studies with special cations include Modern Chinese Sports University College Cork. reference to China. History. GUO Hong 郭红 is a professor at TAN Hua 谭华 is a professor in sports CHANG Sheng 常生 is a professor of South China Normal University. Her history and sociology at South China sport sociology at Nantong University, research areas are sports medicine and Normal University in Guangzhou. His China, who specializes in athletics in sports physiology. publications include the History of Sport China. HU Xiaoming 胡小明 is a professor at of the People’s Republic of China (1999). Bjoern Conrad wrote his Master’s Huanan Normal University, China. His Holly Thorpe is a lecturer at the Uni- thesis on the political and economic research interests focus on sports his- versity of Waikato, New Zealand, and implications of the Beijing Olympics tory and sports anthropology. coeditor (with Douglas Booth) of the and is currently studying at Harvard’s JIN Yuanpu 金元浦 is a professor of lit- Berkshire Encyclopedia of Extreme Sport. Kennedy School of Government. erature at Renmin University of China. XIONG Huan 熊欢 is a lecturer at 125 CUI Ying 崔颖 coordinates worldwide He is executive director of the Re- the Irish Institute of Chinese Studies, out-of-competition testing programs search Centre of Humanistic Olympic University College of Cork in Ireland. for international federations at the Games in Beijing. She has written widely on women and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in LUO Shiming 罗时铭 is a professor sports. Montreal, Canada. of sports history at Soochow Univer- XIONG Xiaozheng 熊晓 is a professor Scott Eldridge II is a journalist who sity, China, and author of the History of at Beijing Sports University. His publi- has written for Guanxi: The China Letter Olympics in China. cations include Chinese Ancient Sport and and was a reporter in Washington, D.C., LU Zhouxiang 吕洲翔 is a lecturer in Readings of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. covering U.S.-China international trade the College of Sports at South West ZHANG Ling 张玲 is a physical educa- policy and economics. University of Science and Technology, tion instructor at Guangdong University FAN Wei 樊维 is the director of China. of Foreign Studies. swimming teaching and research at Chengdu Sports University, China.

Index Index

A China, Ancient, 28, 41, 55, 59, 103, 119 Environmental policies, 120–121 Acupuncture, 87, 89 Chinese Association of Sports Extreme sports, 84–86 Athletics, 28–31 Medicine, 87–89 Asian Games, 14–18 Chinese People’s Association F Asian X Games, 84–85, 105 for Friendship with Foreign Federation Internationale de Football Auto racing, 81–83 Countries (CPAFFC), 67 Association (FIFA), 47–49, 51 Chinese Professional Soccer League, 50 Federation Internationale de B Chinese Professional Table Natation Amateur (FINA), 43, 75 Tennis League, 68 Badminton, 32–36 Federation Internationale de Chinese University Basketball Bank of China (BOC), 100, 106 Volleyball (FIVB), 71 Association, 38 Baseball, 40 Federation of Automobile Chuan-Kwang Yang, 15 Basketball, 37–40 Sports (FASC), 82 Chinese Communist Party, 8, Beach volleyball, 71 Federation of International 11, 19, 21, 40, 93, 112 Beijing Olympic Green, 98–99 Gymnastics, 52–53 Confucius, ix 127 Beijing Organizing Committee for FINA Diving World Cup, 43–46 Coubertin, Pierre de, 9, 14, the Games of the XXIX Olympiad FINA Water Polo World League, 76 59, 109, 114, 116 (BOCOG), 58, 103, 105–107, 111 Football (soccer), 47–51 Cuju, 47 Bird’s Nest Stadium, 98, 117 Fu Mingxia, 46, 95 Cultural Revolution, 33, 40, 49, 61 BMW Asian Open, 83 Future 500, 108 BMX, 84 Fuwa, 102–103 D C Dance, 78 G Deng Xiaoping, 22, 50 Cai Zhenhua, 70 Gao Ming 45, 96 Deng Yaping, 16, 69, 96, Chan, Jackie, 86 Golf, 81–83 Despatie, Alexandre, 43–44 Chen Haosu, 67 Greece, Ancient, 114 Diving, 41–46 Chen Long, 58 Green Olympics, vii, 120–121 Dong Shouyi, 39 Chen Lu, 96 Gymnastics, 52–54 Doping in sports, 25, 61–62, 90–92 Chen Yan, 18, 24 Guangzhou, 16, 75–76 Chen Yanqing, 18 Guo Jingjing, 7, 44, 46 E Chen Yunpeng, 64 Cheng Fei, 54 Economic impact of Olympics, 109–112 Elite sport system, 2 H Liu Xiang, 3, 17, 25, 29, 30–31 Olympics, 1936 (Berlin), Index He Yingqiang, 23 Luan Jujie, 22 37–38, 48, 64, 116 He Zhuoqiang, 23 Luo Xuejuan, 63–64 Olympics, 1984 (Los Angeles), Hong Kong, 100–101 Lyon, David Willard, 38 ix, 3, 9, 12,–13, 22, 61, 108 Hong Kong Jockey Club, 100–101 Olympics, 2000 (Sydney), Hong Kong Shanghai Bank M 23–24, 43, 46, 53, 120 of China (HSBC ), 83 Ma Junren, 23, 90 Olympics, 2004 (Athens), 3, Hong Kong Sports Institute, 101 Macao Grand Prix Races, 81 13, 18, 25, 29, 35–36, 46–47, Humanistic Olympics, 118–119 Mao Zedong, 11, 13, 14, 20– 53–54, 63, 70, 90, 111, 120 21, 40, 66, 68, 93 Open-door policy, 94 I Martial arts, 55–58 Ouyang Kunpeng, 62 Individual World Badminton Milutinovic, Bora, 6 P Champion, 33 Mo Guoxiong, 61 International Association of Mo Huilan, 17 Pakhalina, Julia, 45 Athletics Federation (IAAF), 28 Morgan, William G., 71 People’s Republic of China (PRC), International Olympic Committee Moxibustion, 87, 89 15, 19–20, 60, 67, 76, 93 (IOC), 10–13, 22–24, 56, 58, 84, Mu Xiangxiong, 21, 61 Peirsol, Aaron, 63 90, 92, 94, 102, 104, 114, 116 Phelps, Michael, 63 International Table Tennis N Physical education, 4, 9, Federation, 65 Naismith, James, 37 21, 42, 47, 53, 88 National Aquatics Center, 62, 98 Ping-Pong diplomacy, 66–68 J National Committee on U.S.-China Politics and political conflicts, 17, 24, 107–108, 114 Ji Zheng, 29 Relations (NCUSCR), 66–67 Jiang Bo, 29 National Fitness Program, 78 128 National Games of the People’s Q K Republic of China, 19–25 Qi Hui, 62 National Indoor Stadium, 98 Qi Lieyun, 61 Khorkina, Svetlana, 53 National Stadium, 97–98 Qigong, 77–79 Kissinger, Henry, 66, 68 Neijia boxing, 57 Qing dynasty, 19, 29, 55, 89 Kong Linghui, 69–70 Ni Zhiqin, 21 Qingdao International Nixon, Richard 66, 68, 89 Sailing Center, 100 L Qinghuangdao Olympic Stadium, 101 Lai-Shan Lee, 18 O Lang Ping, 73–74 Olympic Forest Park, 98 R Lee Huitang, 51 Olympic ideal, 114–115 Rong Guotuan, 68 Li Lingwei, 36 Olympic Sports Center, 99 Li Ning, 26, 53 Olympic torch, 105 S Liddell, Eric, 31 Olympics, 1896 (Athens), 114 Lin Dan, 35–36 Samaranch, Juan Antonio, ix, 102 Olympics, 1908 (London), ix, 41 Lin Li, 61 Shanghai Stadium, 101 Olympics, 1932 (Los Angeles), Liu Changchun, ix, 2, 10 Shaolin, 55–57 ix, 2, 10–11, 109 Liu Guoliang, 69–70 Shenyang Olympic Stadium, 101 Liu Hailong, 58 Shooting, 3, 100 Shuttlecock kicking, 78, 80 V Y Index Skateboarding, 84–86 Volleyball, 71–74 Yang Chuanguang, 29 Snowboarding, 84–85 Volvo China Open, 83 Yang Wei, 54 Soccer (football), 47–51 Yang Wenyi, 61, 64, 95 Solomon, Richard, 66 W Yang Xiuqiong, 59, 64 Sponsorship, 106–108 Waijia boxing, 57 Yang Yang, 36 Sports medicine, 87–89 Wang Junxia, 31, 106 Yangge, 78, 80 Sun Baoqing, 38 Wang Liqin, 69–70 Yao Ming, 7, 38, 39–40 Sun Wen, 51 Wang Nan, 70 Young Men’s Christian Association Surdiman Cup, 43–44 Wang Qun, 62 (YMCA), 6, 9–10, 14, 19, 33, 37–39, 7l Swimming, 59–64 Wang Wei, 107 Yuan Weimin, 173–74 Wang Zhizhi, 38, 40 T Way, Danny, 86 Z Table tennis, 65–70 Water polo, 75–76 Zhang Boling, ix Tai chi, 57, 78–79 Wilkinson, Laura, 45 Zhang Ning, 36 Taiwan, 14–16, 29 Women in sports, 93–96 Zhang Yadong, 62, 64 Tang Xianhu, 36 Women’s World Cup, 51 Zhang Yimou, ix Technological Olympics, 116–117 World Anti-doping Agency Zhang Yining, 69–70 Television and radio, 107–108, 111, 116 (WADA), 90–91 Zhao Jianhua, 35 Ti jian zi, 78, 80 World Cup, 48 Zheng Fengrong, 29, 93 Tian Liang, 46 World Wushu Championships, 56 Zhou Enlai, 20, 66, 68, 73 Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium, 101 Wu Chuanyu, 60 Zhou Jihong, 46 Tourism, 82, 100, 110 Wu Minxia, 54–56 Zhu Jianhua, 16, 22, 29 Track and field, 28–31 Wu Peng, 62 Zhuang Yong, 61, 63 Traditional Chinese Medicine 129 (TCM), 97, 99 X Training, 16, 29–33, 42, 60, 94, 101 Xie Jun, 95 Two-China question, 13, 16 Xiong Ni, 46 Xu Haifeng, ix, 3, 22

Photo Credits Photo Credits

Berkshire Publishing Group Garage Industries Cover (from left):image 2, 3, 6; page 2, Page 84 33, 37, 39, 50, 52, 79, 80, 94 Getty Images Jan Berris Frontispiece, page 1, 7, 10, 12, 20, Page 4 22, 24, 26, 30, 54, 55, 56, 72, 75, 77, 82, 97, 99, 101, 107, 113, 115 China Foto Press Cover photos (from left): image Howard Knuttgen 1, 4, 5; page 5, 11, 14, 17, 32, 34, Page 88, 91 35, 41, 42, 43, 44, 48, 49, 62, 65, 69, 83, 102, 104, 110, 117, 118, 121 istock.com Page 85, 86 Corbis 131 Title page

China Gold 中国金 China’s Quest for Global Power and Olympic Glory 路漫漫：从辉煌奥运到世界强国

For information on quantity purchases, please contact: Special Sales Berkshire Publishing Group 122 Castle Street Great Barrington, MA 01230 U.S.A. [email protected] tel +1 413 528 0206 fax +1 413 528 5241

Available through all major distributors worldwide. www.chinagold2008.com

Berkshire publishes a variety of books, encyclopedias, and educational and professional publications on Chinese culture and business, including Guanxi: The China Letter. Visit www.guanxionline.com for full details and trial subscriptions.