Tag Archives: Olympic Games

Olympics

US Comeback Tops Strong Chinese Challenge in Tokyo

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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…

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Basketball, Diving, Football, Olympics, Swimming, Table Tennis, Volleyball

China Still Out in Front After First Week at Tokyo Olympics

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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!

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Olympics

China On Target in Early Running at Tokyo Olympics

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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
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Olympics

China Tasked with Olympic Rebound, as COVID Dominates Tokyo Build-up

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In this week’s Olympic round-up:

  • IOC President calls Japanese people “Chinese”
  • China’s largest ever delegation to “go all out”, as uniforms ridiculed
  • COVID fears hamper Team China build-up in Tokyo
  • China predicted to finish second in medal table
  • Beijing 2022 preparations “on track”, but outlook remains uncertain
  • The latest Beijing Olympics boycott talk
  • All the other features and stories of interest
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Basketball, Football, Ice Hockey, Olympics

NHL Players Could Miss Out On Olympics As Deadline Looms

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

  • NHL’s decision on Beijing Olympics comes down to the wire
  • Team China lining up “heritage players” despite contract standoff
  • Japan, Australia block China’s route to World Cup qualification
  • Men’s basketball team misses Olympics for first time since 1984
  • The latest 2022 Olympics boycott talk from around the world
  • All the other features and stories of interest
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Football, Golf, Olympics, Swimming, Tennis

Sun Yang Banned for 4+ Years, Will Miss Tokyo Olympics

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

  • Chinese swimmer gets ban of 4 years and 3 months at doping retrial
  • Soccer star Li Ying comes out as lesbian
  • IOC member hails China’s winter sports progress with some dubious stats
  • Commemorative stamps released for 2022 Winter Olympics venues
  • Golfers set for Tokyo, Zhang makes history at Wimbledon
  • The latest 2022 Olympics boycott talk from around the world
  • All the other features and stories of interest
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Football, Olympics

Indian Team Scraps Chinese Uniforms in Embarrassing U-Turn

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In this week’s look at all the latest news in the build-up to the Olympics and elsewhere:

  • Indian Olympic Association scraps Li-Ning kit deal
  • China on the verge of progressing in FIFA World Cup qualifying
  • The IOC provides an update on its plans for Beijing
  • 22nd death in Gansu ultramarathon disaster as official commits suicide
  • The latest boycott threats from around the world
  • All the other features and stories of interest
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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
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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.

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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.

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