Category Archives: Diving

China Still Out in Front After First Week at Tokyo Olympics

In this week’s Olympic round-up, I will go over all the golds that China has won so far, up to the end of Day 8. I’ll start with the golds (from most to least per sport), because that’s what China cares about, even if we get periodic messages from the leadership about moving away from a “win at all costs” mentality. In fact, it feels more like we’re moving back towards that gold obsession these days.

Then I’ll look at some other good performance, as well as some disappointments, and finish with a few other developments – including some significant Winter Olympic news and the launch of the China Sports Insider podcast!

Continue reading China Still Out in Front After First Week at Tokyo Olympics

Weekly Wrap: Marbury dominates, and China’s 783-0 streak could end

Stephon Marbury could be in line for a second statue in Beijing. Having missed most of the season through injury, he has inspired the Beijing Ducks in the CBA playoffs, leading them into a finals showdown against the Xinjiang Flying Tigers after a 3-2 series win against the Guangdong Southern Tigers.

Marbury clearly left it (and his clothes) out there on the court
Marbury clearly left it (and his clothes) out there on the court

Continue reading Weekly Wrap: Marbury dominates, and China’s 783-0 streak could end

Why you should never strive for perfection

I’ve just spent a few days in Korea, where the country’s female golfers are perhaps as dominant on the world stage as any team in sports today. Comparing different teams in different sports brings to mind apples and oranges, but 35 of the world top 100 players are from a country with a population of under 50 million. South Koreans have won six of the past eight major championships, and came second in the other two.

Image
Korean golfers winning…again

What do they get for this? “Boring”, “faceless”, “robots”, “predictable” etc. Inbee Park has won three majors this year and gets fewer column inches than Hunter Mahan’s new baby. Today’s Sports Talk column looks at why sports stars might be better off striving for one level below perfection: become perfect and the fans and media will turn on you – or worse – just ignore you.

Continue reading Why you should never strive for perfection

Weekly Wrap: diving, sliding and Camacho

Hong Kong has been drawing lots of negative attention this week – specifically the semi-flooded state of the Hong Kong Stadium pitch, on which the Barclays Asia Trophy is being played. It consists of 3 EPL teams and a local side sliding through puddles under the guise of vaguely competitive soccer.

Hong Kong pitch
The Beautiful Game
Picture credit: Getty/The Telegraph

Continue reading Weekly Wrap: diving, sliding and Camacho