Tag Archives: Olympic Games
Pressure proving too much as China’s golden drive continues
Frenchman unloads both barrels on China’s swimmers
Rio Review: Day 2
Rio Review: Day 1
China Medal Count
0 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze
Day 1: Medals
Silver: Du Li (women’s 10m air rifle); Sun Yang (men’s 400m freestyle)
Bronze: Yi Siling (women’s 10m air rifle); Sun Yiwen (women’s individual épée), Pang Wei (men’s 10m air pistol)
Day 2: Ones to Watch
The best chance likely comes in diving as Wu Minxia and Shi Tingmao go in the women’s 3m synchro. Elsewhere, Chen Xinyi and Lu Ying have made it to the final of the women’s 100m butterfly, but are not expected to win a medal, and Zhang Mengxue has qualified for the women’s 10m air pistol final. And I would have said reigning Olympic champion in the men’s foil Lei Sheng, but at the time of writing, China’s flagbearer has just been dumped out. Continue reading Rio Review: Day 1
Pressure builds on China as problems circle Rio Olympics
China’s largest ever Olympic contingent of 411 athletes has brought expectations for a sizeable medal haul to Brazil. But with with local issues compounded by some wider – and more worrying – trends, it is no exaggeration to say that the Rio Olympics are facing potentially fatal headwinds.
The Rio Olympics are shaping up to be the most pivotal of recent times.
Not because the sporting action is any more anticipated than at previous Games – far from it – but because the Olympic concept has taken so many knocks in recent years that the very credibility of the Games is under threat.
Continue reading Pressure builds on China as problems circle Rio Olympics
Long road to NBA for Chinese duo
Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin become first Chinese players drafted for nine years, but both face an uphill battle to play in the NBA.
A year ago, ice hockey player Song Andong was touted as China’s next big sporting star after being drafted by the NHL’s New York Islanders, then swiftly promoted as one of the faces of China’s 2022 Winter Olympic Games bid campaign. This spring, it is the turn of two Chinese basketball players, Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin, who were drafted by the NBA’s Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies, respectively.
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…
Continue reading 10 sporting questions for the Year of the Monkey
Did China really ban golf or not?
Headlines last week left readers with little doubt about the state of golf in China:
- “Golf banned for China’s Party members” (CNN)
- “Communist party commands its 88 million members to abstain from playing golf” (Guardian sub-heading)
- “To fight corruption, China officially bans golf for party cadres” (Washington Post)
- “China just banned 88 million people joining golf clubs” (USA Today)
- “Communist Party bans club membership” (BBC)
- “China tees off against golf, gluttony in anti-graft drive” (Reuters)
- “Stocks, Sex and Golf: China’s Ruling Party Targets Temptations” (Bloomberg)
Pretty clear, right? Well, actually, no. As this article from shougolf.com points out [in Chinese], it turns out that the Washington Post and the BBC (its two main targets) and others jumped the gun somewhat on their “China bans golf/golf club memberships” headlines.
Beijing vs Almaty: The Final Countdown
In a few hours’ time, IOC President Thomas Bach will announce either China’s capital, Beijing, or Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, as the host of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Here are some reasons why China should be confident of success – and some reasons to worry:
Why Beijing will win Continue reading Beijing vs Almaty: The Final Countdown
