Tag: china sports

New Olympic darling Fu Yuanhui breaks Chinese internet

I’ve already written about Fu Yuanhui, but it’s worth watching the videos again. First her priceless reaction after the semi-final interview (translation courtesy of Propeller TV): 

Then here’s the clip after the final, in which she hadn’t realised she had won a medal (translation courtesy of What’s on Weibo):

Say what you like about China’s swimmers – and many have – but it’s hard not to love Fu Yuanhui.

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West Brom, AC Milan added to China’s trophy cabinet

Chinese football added another two major clubs to the country’s portfolio, as the government-backed soccer drive shows no sign of slowing down.

With the sporting world’s attention zeroing in on the Rio Olympics, China’s football industry – as has been the case repeatedly this year – stole back the spotlight. West Brom became the first English Premier League club to be acquired by a mainland Chinese owner. Then, just hours later, AC Milan joined the club as a Chinese consortium took full ownership from Silvio Berlusconi, following the lead of its cross-town rival Inter two months ago. Here are five thoughts on the day’s dealings: 

1. Never, ever believe the rumors

Milan fans can now finally say goodbye to Silvio Berlusconi

All the talk surrounding West Brom for weeks had been about Wanda and its chairman Wang Jianlin, even though there was no hint whatsoever about this from the club. AC Milan was linked with just about every well-known Chinese entrepreneur and his dog, before the lesser-known Sonny Wu emerged as the latest frontrunner. Cue another surprise when the Haixia Capital-State Development & Investment Corporation axis finally won out in the Berlusconi Sweepstakes. The lesson here is that there are simply too many unknown Chinese buyers looking to invest right now, so connecting the dots to one of the few known entities turns out to be nonsense 9 times out of 10, even if occasionally it turns out to be a lucky guess.

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.

In fairness, there has been criticism in the build-up to all Olympic Games in recent memory. This happens largely because the hordes of international media are on site days before the Games kick off and have to file daily stories with little or no sporting action to discuss. But, while some may disagree, the build-up to Rio does seem worse than normal.

Locally, health has been a big concern with the Zika virus seeing a number of high-profile withdrawals – mostly notably the top four male golfers in the world – even though the official line from the IOC and its health experts has been that there is nothing to worry about.