Results tagged “athletics”

Back when we were wee little children, we watched Nickelodeon's Guts with the same fanaticism our Gen-X uncles had for American Gladiators. The show, which pits kids against kids in a competitive sports arena was great for its messiness, its "safe" violence, and its schadenfreude (when that girl who looks a lot like the annoying kid in your math class falls off the giant yoga mat pyramid onto her face. ha!). We've grown up now, but we're happy to hear that millions of Chinese youth will be getting a taste of the childhood we remember - MTV's international division will be bringing Guts to China. Called 挑战小勇士 (tiaozhan xiaoyongshi), it'll allow Chinese kids their shot at athletic glory and humiliation on a giant foamy set, something the adults have been allowed to do for a while now. Source: Hollywood Reporter

Yao Ming may or may not be out for the count, but Shanghai sports lovers can still count on Liu Xiang to possibly bring them sports glory. The 26-year-old hurdler was in top form during an open training class at Shanghai's Xinzhuang Training Base, according to China Daily. Because of his Achilles tendon injury - the one that made all of China wail during the Beijing Olympics - he could still only train with sneakers, rather than spikes. But Liu Xiang put on a brave face, even ripping his shirt off and running aorund topless near the end of the session. That's all well and good, but our PC radar perked up at one of the reactions China Daily recorded from one of his foreign fans. French student Juliette Borque told the paper, "He is the first Chinese to win the Olympic gold medal (in the event). I thought it's interesting, since normally it is always black guys that win. So I started to follow him." Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep?

Injured hurdler Liu Xiang has written a letter to the people of China and his supporters worldwide, which was posted on Chinese national track and field coach Feng Shuyong's (冯树勇) blog yesterday. Below is a translation of Feng's post:

After winning one gold medal and six total medals on Saturday and then seven golds and 14 total medals on Sunday, China is making a serious run at coming out of the Beijing games with the most gold and most medals overall. As of 11:00 pm Beijing time on Monday, China leads the Olympic gold quest with 39 gold medals, 17 more than Team USA's 22. In terms of overall medals, China trails the USA by five, with the Americans taking 72 compared to China's 67. China won four more gold medals Monday, plus a silver and a bronze, but all the talk was about the medal that China was hoping to win more than any other — the men's 110 meter hurdles. As reported here and across global media, Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang has withdrawn from the event in which he won gold during the Athens games four years ago. China has already far surpassed its 32-gold, 63-overall medal tally in 2004. In 2000 at the Sydney Olympics, China had 28 golds and 59 medals overall. China is seeking to become the first nation other than the United States or former Soviet Union to top the gold medal standings since Germany in 1936. In 1984, the U.S. (aided by the Soviet led boycott) won 83 golds and 174 overall in Los Angeles. The U.S. won 242 medals overall in 1904 in St. Louis.

Former Olympic gold medalist hurdler and golden boy for millions of Chinese, Liu Xiang, limped off the track today, taking away with him the hopes of defending the gold and reclaiming his world record from Cuba's Dayron Robles.

Sunday morning, while most people will be sleeping/ clubbing/ trying to get sober, about 15,000 runners will gather for the Shanghai marathon and half marathon, starting at 7:30 am, on Nanjing Dong Lu and Sichuan Lu.

Outspoken (and slightly above average) Cleveland Cavaliers guard Damon Jones made history this week, becoming the first active American NBA player to sign an endorsement deal with a Chinese sports apparel brand. Li Ning, one of China's leading sports brands, signed Jones to a two-year deal, details of which were not disclosed. Jones has worn Li Ning's "Feijia" sneakers for most of this season.