China Sports Facts
DID YOU KNOW...
Yao Ming is an Chinese professional basketball player who plays for the
Houston Rockets of the NBA (National Basketball Association). Like
Dikembe Mutombo (Democratic Republic of Congo), Tracy Mc Grady (United
States) and Luis Scola (Argentina), he is one of the best players in the
world.
Liu Xiang won the gold medal in the menīs 110 meter hurdles at the 2004
Athens Olympic Games. He was the first Asian man to win an Olympic gold
medal in track, and his victory in Greece was hailed in his country as a
cultural leap forward because it ran counter to the stereotypes of what
makes a great hurdler.At the medalistīs press conference following the
menīs 110-meter hurdlers, Liu said: "My victory has proved that athletes
with yellow skin can run as fast as those with black and white skin". He
was born on July 13, 1983 in Shangai, China.
The Chinese delegation participated in the 2000 Olympic Games held in
Sydney (Australia), and won 28 gold medals in such events as athletics,
badminton, diving, gymnastics, judo, shooting, taekwondo, table tennis
and weightlifting.
Kuoshu is the national sport in the People`s Republic of China.
Lang Ping played volleyball at the 1984 Summer Olympics for China. In
the 1980s, she was the best volleyball player in the world. In 2004, she
became the head coach of the USA women`s national volleyball team. "Lang
Ping is an individual who has been uncommonly successful in every phase
of her career as a player and a coach, and her accomplishments are
unequaled," USA chief executive officer Doug Beal said. "She won every
major event as a player for China during her career and was clearly the
dominant player in the world in the 1980s." And she transitioned more
seamlessly than almost anyone in volleyball history to her role as a
coach, leading China to a silver medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996
and successfully coaching professionally in Italy for many years."
China sent 246 athletes to the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona (Spain).
It participated in gymnastics, athletics, boxing, cycling, fencing,
diving, judo, shooting, swimming, table tennis, archery, badminton,
sailing, weightlifting, wrestling, modern pentathlon, basketball and
volleyball. The Peopleīs Republic of China finished 4th in the medal
count, with 54 (16 gold), trailing the Unified Team (112), United States
(108) and Germany (82).
The Chinese metropolis has hosted the 11th Asian Games in 1990. Over
6,122 athletes from more tahn 35 countries participated, along with
1,000 coaches. It was the largest multi-sport event in the Third World
in 1990.
Beijing has hosted the 1990 FIVB Volleyball Womenīs World Championship.
It is the capital city of China.
The Asian country has had many famous sportswomen in the past century:
Kuo-tuang Jung (table tennis), Lu Li (gymnastics), Chen Yueling (track
and field), Fu Mingxia (diving), Zheng Meizhu (volleyball), Gao Min
(diving), Haixia Zheng (basketball), Yang Xilan (volleyball), Zhuang
Xiaoyan (judo), Hong Qian (swimming), Gu Jun (badminton), Chuang
Tse-tung (table tennis), Wang Huifeng (fencing), Hsie-ting (table
tennis), Wei Qiang (softball), Yong Zhuang (swimming), He Ying
(archery), Ge Fei (badminton), Le Jingyi (swimming), Wang Junxia (track
and field), Xu Yanmei (diving), Sun Fuming (judo), Li Duihong
(shooting), Mo Huilan (gymnastics) and Qu Yunxia (athletics).
Zhu Jianhua was one of the most famous athletes in China and in Asia. He
was an Olympic bronze medalist and former world record holder in the
high jump.
The Chinese team won the women`s volleyball World Cup by defeating Cuba
(3-1) in 1985. It was the 2d World Cup victory for the People`s Republic
of China.
China did not participate at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, URSS
(currently Russia).Many Chinese athletes -notably hurdler Tsu Lin, high
jumper Ni Chih-chin, long jumper Hsia Chieh-ping, runner Sung Mei-hua,
and volleyball players Liang Yan, Zhang Rongfang, Zhou Xiaolan and Zhu
Ling- lost their Olympic opportunities.
Li Ning won three gymnastics gold medals at the 1984 Olympic Games in
Los Angeles, California (USA). Like Nadia Comaneci (Romania) and Vitaly
Scherbo (Belarus), he was one of the best gymnasts of the 20th century.
Li Ning was born on September 8, 1963 in Liuzhou, Guangxi, China.
From 1993 to 1996, Wang Junxia was one of the greatest runners in China
and Asia. She set three world records in 1993 (3,000- metre and
10,000-metre events). This year she won a gold medal in the 10,000 m at
the World Championships in Stuggart (Germany). At the 1996 Summer
Olympic Games in Atlanta (Georgia,USA), she notified the world of her
championships capabilities by winning the gold medal in the 5,000-meter
race.
The Asian country won the silver medal in softball at the 1996 Olympic
Games in the United States.
Diver Fu Mingxia won 5 gold medal at three successive Olympic Games:
Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000). She is an idol in
her natal city of Wuhan, China.
Chuang Tse-tung was one of the best-known players in the history of
table tennis (also known as ping pong). In the 1960s, she was an idol in
the Peopleīs Republic of China.
China has competed in the Winter Olympics 8 times and has won a total of
33 medals. It has more Olympic medals that Iceland, Hungary, Australia
and Poland combined.
Michael Chang, who had won a Grand Slam, plans to open an academy for
young players in China. He once said, "I have a wish, which is to
contribute my experience accumulated from playing in world tournaments
to the development of tennis in China".
China sent 219 athletes to the 1984 Olympic Games, which were held in
Los Angeles, California, USA. The Chinese delegation had athletes
competing in 16 sports: archery (6), athletics (22), basketball (22),
canoeing (4), cycling (7), fencing (17), gymnastics(14), handball (15),
wrestling (10), rowing (9), shooting (17), swimming (35), tennis (1),
volleyball (22),weightlifting (10) and sailing (4).
About the Author
Alejandro Guevara Onofre: He is a freelance writer Alejandro is of Italian, African and Peruvian ancestry. He studied political science and journalism. He has published more than seventy-five research paper in English, and more than twenty in Spanish, concerning the world issues, Olympic sports, countries, and tourism. His next essay is called "The Dictator and Alicia Alonso". He is an expert on foreign affairs. Furthermore, Alejandro is the first author who has published a world-book encyclopedia in Latina America.
He admires Frida Kahlo (Mexican painter), Hillary Clinton (ex-First Lady of the USA), and Jimmy Carter (former President of the USA). His favorite film is "Gorillas in the Mist". Some of his favorite books are "The Return of Eva Peron and the Killings in Trinidad" (by V.S.Naipaul), "Las Mujeres de los Dictadores" (by Juan Gasparini) and "Murder of a Gentle Land" (by John Barron and Anthony Paul).His personal motto is "The future is for those people who believe in the beauty o f their dreams" by Eleanor Roosevelt.