All posts by Mark Dreyer

Olympics

Fatal Race & Birthday Party Hinder Olympic Build-up

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The next few months are not likely to see a huge amount of action when it come to Winter Olympic sports in China. Beijing is very much in waiting mode for at least three main reasons: a celebration, a mourning and the Tokyo Olympics.

In this week’s look at all the latest news in the build-up to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics:

  • Waiting for Tokyo
  • A political birthday party
  • An ultramarathon in Gansu goes catastrophically wrong
  • The latest boycott threats from around the world
  • CNN’s selective timeline
  • All the other features and stories of interest
Continue reading Fatal Race & Birthday Party Hinder Olympic Build-up →
Olympics

37 Weeks To the Beijing Olympics: Nancy Pelosi & The Scandinavians

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In this week’s look at all the latest news in the build-up to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics:

  • Nancy Pelosi wheels out some old China material
  • China Daily slams Olympic ice hockey team’s “poor preparations”
  • An insider’s guide to the Nordic Skiing events at Beijing 2022
  • The latest boycott threats from around the world
  • All the other features and stories of interest
Continue reading 37 Weeks To the Beijing Olympics: Nancy Pelosi & The Scandinavians →
Ice Hockey, Olympics

Rocky Road Ahead for Chinese Ice Hockey Hopefuls

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Weekly Roundup

  • Six potential scenarios for Chinese ice hockey ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics
  • Latest news on whether NHL players will return to Olympics
  • Pfizer competes with Chinese vaccines at Tokyo and Beijing Games
  • Boycott Watch
  • Other stories in the build-up to Beijing 2022

Can the Car Crash Be Avoided?

Thanks to all of you who got in touch after last week’s story about the current state of Chinese ice hockey and the car crash that appears to lie in wait at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. I heard from multiple players, coaches, industry execs and journalists, who all reached out to offer some thoughts. It also resulted in at least one follow-up story, with The Economist – of all people – highlighting the situation.

Continue reading Rocky Road Ahead for Chinese Ice Hockey Hopefuls →
Ice Hockey, Olympics

Frostbitten: China Facing Olympic Ice Hockey Expulsion

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  • World governing body IIHF threatening to expel China from Olympic ice hockey tournament.
  • IIHF prepared to bend eligibility rules for China to avoid global embarrassment.
  • New Canadian coach hired with just nine months to go.
  • Political infighting hindering recruitment process for players.

In news that has not previously been reported, China Sports Insider can exclusively reveal that the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has threatened to kick the Chinese team out of its own Olympic ice hockey tournament on home soil in Beijing if China doesn’t get its act together quickly, according to multiple sources. Furthermore, the situation is so dire that the IIHF has offered to waive its own eligibility requirements to allow China to bolster its own team through foreign-born recruits.

Continue reading Frostbitten: China Facing Olympic Ice Hockey Expulsion →
Olympics

40 Weeks To Go: Cotton Socks, Robotaxis & Tchaikovsky

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It’s really quite extraordinary that there are only 40 weeks to go until the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and yet we still have no idea what it’s going to look like, or even who will be there. Ticketing has yet to start, sponsors have little idea what they can do – and we won’t have answers to any of these questions (and more) for several more months at least.

But that is the COVID reality. For one of the most meticulously planned events in the world, flexibility has become a necessary. It’s unsettling, but in the context of the rest of the global headlines, it’s still fairly inconsequential.

The IOC has its hands overflowing with Tokyo logistics right now, but it’s already taking center stage for Beijing, with allegations of suppliers sourcing from Xinjiang and suppressions of freedom over the Rule 50 refresh. The fun continues…

Weekly Roundup

  • IOC in cotton debate over Anta uniforms
  • Chinese athletes skew IOC protest poll on Rule 50
  • FIS Presidential candidate pumps China’s tires
  • Russian anthem to be replaced by Tchaikovsky
  • More boycott news from around the world
  • Other features and stories in the build-up to Beijing 2022
Continue reading 40 Weeks To Go: Cotton Socks, Robotaxis & Tchaikovsky →
Olympics

41 Weeks To Go: Boycott Bill & Olympic Protests Outlawed

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The US is cranking up the political pressure on China, with a lengthy bill now under consideration in the Senate – and an amendment contained within it could enforce a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. If that were to happen, pressure would then fall on other countries to do the same, though it doesn’t look – at the moment – as if any athletic delegations plan to skip the Games next February.

Elsewhere, the Chinese leadership will be greatly hearted by the revised IOC rules on athlete protests, which essentially continue to outlaw all Olympic protests of any kind. That doesn’t mean athletes can’t or won’t take matters into their own hands, of course, but it definitely makes it harder for them to do so. There’s a full discussion of all this and more below.

Weekly Roundup

  • US Senate to vote on diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022
  • Olympic protests outlawed for athletes
  • Japan backs away from promise to cooperate on Olympics with China
  • Digital yuan set to roll out at the Beijing Games
  • More boycott news from around the world
  • Other features and stories in the build-up to Beijing 2022
Continue reading 41 Weeks To Go: Boycott Bill & Olympic Protests Outlawed →
Olympics

300 Days To Go: BioNTech Vaccine in China & Boycott Threats Ease

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There are now just 300 days to go until the Beijing Winter Olympics, but with Tokyo into its final runway – marking 100 days to go this week – the Beijing Olympics are in a bit of a holding pattern. All eyes are now turning towards Japan to see how it handles the Games, and China will no doubt be basing many decisions for 2022 on what happens this summer. But with more concrete news on a possible BioNTech vaccine in China, plus the US backing off its boycott talk – at least for now – it’s certainly been a better week for Beijing Organizing Committee.

Weekly Roundup

  • Government set to approve BioNTech vaccine in China
  • Test events finish second round
  • President Xi pledges “simple, safe and splendid Olympics”
  • “Too early” for US to discuss boycott
  • More boycott news from around the world
  • Other features and stories in the build-up to Beijing 2022
Continue reading 300 Days To Go: BioNTech Vaccine in China & Boycott Threats Ease →
Olympics, Table Tennis

43 Weeks To Go: Ping Pong Diplomacy & Canadian’s Chinese Dream

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Do we really have another 43 weeks of boycott talk to go before the Beijing Winter Olympics? As the peerless China watcher Bill Bishop wrote this week, a boycott is “highly unlikely”, but it’s connected to so many other China issues du jour that the column inches just keep flowing. As always, there’s a round-up below, but plenty of other stuff, too, including Ping Pong Diplomacy, which happened exactly 50 years ago today (April 10). If you have any questions or specific topics of interest you’d like to see covered, please feel free to comment or email me at mark@chinasportsinsider.com

Weekly Roundup

  • 50th anniversary of Ping Pong Diplomacy
  • Canadian heptathlete gains Chinese citizenship in Olympic bid
  • How legitimate are the rescheduled Olympic test events?
  • US discusses a boycott with allies – then backtracks
  • More boycott news from around the world
  • Other features and stories in the build-up to Beijing 2022
Continue reading 43 Weeks To Go: Ping Pong Diplomacy & Canadian’s Chinese Dream →
Olympics

44 Weeks To Go: Test Events, Nike Reprieve & Chengdu Postponement

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The Economist this week asked “Will countries boycott China’s Olympics in 2022?“, concluding that “if an Olympic boycott movement gains momentum, it may be due as much to China’s behavior abroad as to its abuses at home.” It’s a different take to most of the articles we’ve seen in recent weeks, but wraps in some of the other elements going on, of which there is more below.

Weekly Roundup

  • Olympic test events get underway
  • Nike Xinjiang update
  • 2021 World University Games postponed to 2022
  • US ice hockey moves suggests NHL players will return to Olympics
  • Joint Korean train ride proposed
  • Boycott threats from around the world
  • Other features and stories in the build-up to Beijing 2022
Continue reading 44 Weeks To Go: Test Events, Nike Reprieve & Chengdu Postponement →
Olympics

45 Weeks To Go: To Watch or Not To Watch?

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Lots happening this week: Tokyo confirmed that overseas spectators would not be allowed to enter Japan for the Olympics this summer, leading to immediate questions over fans at the Beijing Olympics. Then, a number of brands put out statements on Xinjiang, angering Chinese consumers, and widening the discussion about activities in China in the build up to the Games.

Weekly Roundup

  • Will overseas spectators be allowed at the Beijing Olympics?
  • Global brands put out statements on Xinjiang – and face the backlash
  • Boycott threats from around the world
  • Other features and stories in the build-up to Beijing 2022
Continue reading 45 Weeks To Go: To Watch or Not To Watch? →