Is Ye Shiwen back?

A little over a month ago, 17-year-old Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen was in pieces. The reigning Olympic champion in both the 200 and 400 IM had failed to win a medal in either race at the World Championships in Barcelona, and Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu had reclaimed her position as the medley queen. But things are … Continue reading Is Ye Shiwen back?

10 sporting questions for the Year of the Monkey

After a breathless few weeks during which the entire sporting world has been talking about Chinese football (with yours truly quoted by AFP three times, FT twice, El Pais, Hicimos, Vice Sports and interviewed by CCTV, BBC and Al Jazeera among others), let’s take a look at a few stories that could be cropping up over the next 12 months…

Tiger Woods: best player never to win a major (again)?

Tiger Woods and Ye Shiwen might make an unlikely couple, but both are prime examples of athletes who have lost their sporting mojos. This week’s Sports Talk column looks at why athletes struggle to get back to their top of their game after losing form: We tend to think of sports as being a purely … Continue reading Tiger Woods: best player never to win a major (again)?

China On Target in Early Running at Tokyo Olympics

In this week’s Olympic round-up: Two early gold medals for China kick off Day 1 Chinese reaction to the Opening Ceremony Tentative start on the pitch for China A round-up of China’s main Olympic medal contenders for Tokyo All the other features and stories of interest

Tokyo Chaos Lowers Bar for Beijing 2022 – and That’s a Shame

In this week’s look at all the latest news in the build-up to the 2022 Olympics and elsewhere: What Tokyo’s ban on Olympic spectators means for Beijing Record Chinese delegation set for Tokyo, as individual sports announces their teams NHL players hold firm with their desire to play in the Olympics Team China hockey rosters … Continue reading Tokyo Chaos Lowers Bar for Beijing 2022 – and That’s a Shame

Star swimmer waxes lyrical in Beijing

Waxworks in China can either be good – like this one of Li Na in Wuhan – or very, very bad – like this one of Vladimir Putin in Fuzhou. Fortunately, Madame Tussauds’ latest creation of swimmer Ye Shiwen falls into the former category and gets a solid 8 out of 10 on the official … Continue reading Star swimmer waxes lyrical in Beijing

Weekly Wrap: Golden Sun, missing mojos, and feng shui in the EPL

Sun Yang won his third individual gold medal at the FINA World Championships, adding the 1,500m title to his wins in the 400m and 800m. He kept pace with Canadian Ryan Cochrane for most of the race, and then blasted away in the final two lengths. It was well outside his own world record pace, … Continue reading Weekly Wrap: Golden Sun, missing mojos, and feng shui in the EPL