Who will light the Olympic cauldron? Apparently not Yao or Liu
Friday, 8th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
We're just hours away from finding out the answer to a question that's been asked for months—who will be the final torchbearer, the person who lights the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremonies tonight?China's favorite athletes, basketball star Yao Ming and 110-meter hurdles world champion Liu Xiang, seem like logical choices. But according to China Daily, Olympic tradition has set a precedent of each person only carrying the flame one time. Yao carried the torch in Beijing Wednesday, and Liu carried it when the relay began on March 31.
So if not Liu or Yao, then who? We don't have interns to research all the athletes who haven't carried the torch, so my guess is going to be pretty uneducated. But here it is: Yao was actually the original choice to light the cauldron, but after the Sichuan earthquake rocked the country in May, the powers that be have changed plans. The torch will be lit by someone from Sichuan, who embodies hope for that region and for China.
Another possibility that I'd love to see is one of the many people who worked so hard in anonymity to build the mammoth Olympic structures that China is so proud of and that have become one of the most prominent symbols of these games.
Of course, China could show how modern it is by breaking with tradition. Or maybe someone knows a really dexterous panda.
Tags: Beijing Olympics, Liu Xiang, Olympics, opening ceremonies, Sichuan earthquake, torch relay, Yao Ming
China Sports World's Earthquake Response
Wednesday, 14th May 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
As the death toll from the Wenchuan earthquake rises, and military and aid workers race to rescue trapped victims, China's sports celebrities are lining up with donations and words of encouragement and compassion. At an event Wednesday Beijing, all the national team members who train in Beijing showed their support for victims, according to this Xinhua report."We cannot go there in person but we will do our part in the relief," Liu Xiang said at the Beijing event.
Here are some of the donation amounts reported by Chinese media: 500,000 yuan ($71,395) each from Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, 110-meter hurdler Liu Xiang and diver Guo Jingjing; 100,000 yuan ($14,279) from Yi Jianlian and 980,000 yuan ($139,936) from the table tennis team. The State General Administration for Sport donated 5 million yuan ($714,000).
No Olympic venues were affected by the quake, but some sports competitions have been. According to China Daily, the Chinese soccer Super League postponed its Wednesday games until Saturday and the Chinese Football Association (CFA) is planning charity games to raise money for Sichuan. The paper also reported that the quake brought "Vision China Project, a nation-wide grassroots soccer event held by Asian Football Confederation, to an abrupt end."
Front page of Titan Sports, May 14.
The day after the quake, the Olympic torch relay's stop in Ruijin, Jiangxi province, began with a moment of silence; this observation will continue at each of the nearly 100 remaining cities on the route. The route remains unchanged, but ceremonies and celebrations are being scaled back, said BOCOG spokesperson Sun Weide.
In print media, the country's biggest sports newspaper, Titan Sports, ran front-page coverage of the quake's impact on the sporting world. The headline above reads: "Shaken: Right now, we are all from Sichuan." And in the large photo, torchbearers line up to put envelopes in a box marked: "Sichuan disaster area donations." The torch is scheduled to enter Sichuan on June 14.
Tags: Sichuan earthquake, Wenchuan earthquake