Tag Archives: London 2012

Olympic Sailing Star Meets Peng Shuai in Shanghai

Happy New Year to all my readers and thanks for following, listening and reading throughout 2021. The 2022 Beijing Olympics begin exactly one month from today, and the Closed Loop Management System (aka the Olympic bubble) went into operation this morning.

This week on the China Sports Insider Podcast we spoke to Chinese Olympic sailing champion Xu Lijia, who won gold in the laser division at the 2012 Olympics in London, where she also carried the flag for China at the Closing Ceremony. She had some fascinating things to say about her career and about China’s state-run sports system in general. She was also pictured in Shanghai recently alongside Yao Ming, table tennis champ Wang Liqin, and people’s favorite Peng Shuai in what was clearly a staged photo shoot. I asked her about that and for her thoughts on Peng in what has become our most listened podcast so far! Full blurb below:

Continue reading Olympic Sailing Star Meets Peng Shuai in Shanghai

US Comeback Tops Strong Chinese Challenge in Tokyo

Wow.

Apologies for the slight delay in getting this out, but I needed to lie down in a cold, dark room after that frantic finish to the Olympics (and overdosing on Twitter). Going into the final day, we still didn’t know which team was going to come out on top of the medals table. But the US completed a comeback to snatch the win at the death – 39 golds to 38 – despite a tremendous performance from China over 16 days of fierce competition.

Like many others, I had assumed beforehand it would be a fairly comfortable win for the US overall – China, remember, couldn’t even beat Great Britain at the last Olympics in Rio – so when China jumped out into an early lead, it was just a matter of time until the US came fighting back, right? Not exactly…

Continue reading US Comeback Tops Strong Chinese Challenge in Tokyo

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

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
Continue reading China On Target in Early Running at Tokyo Olympics

Breaking down China’s latest doping revelations

Following a documentary on German television last month, the world’s media reported on allegations about China’s doping history, prompting an official reaction from WADA. But how much of this is actually new, what will – or can – WADA do about the claims and what does this mean for China’s future sporting ambitions? 

Continue reading Breaking down China’s latest doping revelations

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 timesFT twice, El Pais, Hicimos, Vice Sports and interviewed by CCTVBBC and Al Jazeera among others), let’s take a look at a few stories that could be cropping up over the next 12 months…

funky-monkey-soccer

Continue reading 10 sporting questions for the Year of the Monkey

China’s medal contenders

iaaf-world-championships-beijing-20151The World Athletics Championships kick off in Beijing today, with the world’s media focusing more on the doping allegations that have engulfed the sport than on the sporting action. This is completely understandable, given the revelations that have come out in recent weeks – for example, that one third of the athletes who competed at the 2011 World Champs in South Korea had suspicious tests during the previous 12 months.

However, Chinese media – led by national broadcaster CCTV – have been putting more of a positive spin on things, as is their government-directed wont. Wall-to-wall coverage of former meets (including the 2008 Beijing Olympics) has been shown on sports channel CCTV-5 in recent days, educating and encouraging the public in equal measures, in the hope that they embrace these championships.

2004 Olympic champion Liu Xiang
2004 Olympic champion Liu Xiang

The problem is: Liu Xiang, China’s 110m hurdles 2004 Olympic champion and the sport’s only real domestic star, recently retired.

Here is a list of all the Chinese contenders hoping to step into Liu’s size 11s: Continue reading China’s medal contenders

快船老板遭重罚凸显种族歧视难题

近日,因为种族歧视言论被NBA联盟处罚的洛杉矶快船队老板多纳德•斯特林,很快就将卸任快船老板这一角色。这次NBA开出的250万美元罚款的处罚决定既快速又严厉,加上球迷们和其他球员们对此的广泛认同,无一不表明NBA在相对短的时间内对种族问题的处理非常重视。

donald-sterling-racism-scandal Continue reading 快船老板遭重罚凸显种族歧视难题

By the numbers: Olympic coverage in China

Paralympic action starts today in Sochi with China’s 10-strong contingent looking to claim the country’s first ever Winter Paralympic medal. Five of the 10 form the curling team, which finished third at the World Championships in both 2012 and 2013, so a medal is a definite possibility. The other five are cross-country skiers: no red hot favorites, but results have been improving and a podium finish is not out of the question.

Wheelchair curler He Jun
Wheelchair curler He Jun

Continue reading By the numbers: Olympic coverage in China

中国参加冬奥会不应紧盯金牌

2008年北京奥运会,中国在比赛第一天拿下2枚金牌,第二天又将4枚金牌收入囊中。2012年伦敦奥运会,同样的故事继续上演,中国在比赛前两天内平均每天拿下6枚奖牌,其中一半是金牌。

China at the Sochi Olympics Opening Ceremony Continue reading 中国参加冬奥会不应紧盯金牌