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Chinese faces on foreign teams
Author:admin Date:2008-08-07
Chinese faces can be seen everywhere on the international sports stage now.
These are the faces of former superstars for team China who have moved on to take coaching positions in other countries. These faces include Lang Ping, who coaches the women's US volleyball team, Liu Guodong of Singapore's table tennis team and Li Mao, the coach of South Korea's badminton team. Li may be remembered for his quarrel with Chinese coach Li Yongbo during the South Korean Open earlier this year.
There are also faces hidden from the spotlight as they are not top-ranked players or they are on teams not expected to be in medal contention.
However, each player has a story. I met three of them today -- two from the US table tennis team and another from the US badminton team -- in the Media Press Center.
Smiling Gao
Thirty nine-year-old Gao Jun, a native of Baoding, Hebei Province, started playing table tennis at the age of 5 in Beijing. She retired from table tennis shortly after getting married in 1993, one year after she brought back a silver medal for China in the doubles at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics (her best achievement in Olympics).
In 1997, she was coaxed into joining the United States' national team but only played part-time. It was only after her divorce in 2002 that she decided to take up the sport again.
Gao has been training in Shanghai since 2002 because training in the US would not help her reach the level she needs to be at to compete in the Olympics.
"Table tennis is the sport of China," Gao said. "There is less pressure playing for the US and that's why I decided to pick up the sport again here (US) after marriage."
"In China, we used to train so hard. The country provided almost everything we needed, which made one feel like you have to win. But in the US, athletes just play for fun."
Gao emphasized that the support from the goverment is important but that along with that support comes the pressure of expectations.
"Maybe I will compete in the next Olympics," Gao said with a smile.
Cool Crystal
Crystal Huang, or Yao Xi -- her former Chinese name -- was born in Changsha, Henan Province. She joined the US table tennis team after her family immigrated. It's the 29-year-old's first Olympic Games. She also is a coach at a Los Angeles table tennis club.
"US players play for interest. They come to the Olympics only when they're willing to, nobody pushes, not like in China," Huang said, recalling the difficult training she endured in her early years in China.
"I know some of my Chinese counterparts' weaknesses, but I can't do it -- there's not enough training time," she said. She didn't train for five years after arriving in the US and only trains for four hours a week in the past two years since joining the Los Angeles club.
"China will be dorminant for another five or 10 years," she said,"They've got the kind of training section that no other country can ever compete with. So many people are playing table tennnis in this country, the country with the most people in the world."
She says she no longer worries too much about her table tennis career. She's more interested in other aspects of life.
Child Lee
Eva Lee wrote her Chinese name for me, Li Yiheng, and it's almost like the handwriting of a primary school student.
The Hong Kong based girl turns 22 today. She immigrated with her family to California, US, at the age of 5. She is majoring in pyschology at the University of California.
She will compete in the women's singles and doubles in badminton for the United States.
"It's my first Olympics. And I hope we can get a medal back home from the four events we take part in," Lee said.
Talking about their preparation, Lee said they just got together recently for six hours of training, four days a week.
"Training is diffidult in the US as I have to go to school. And I never bother being as professional as the Chinese players."
"I play just because I really enjoy it. It's a hobby even though I still want to do well," Lee says.
Lee wants to graduate from university first with a master's degree and then plans to become a doctor.
Good luck to the girl with a sweet voice.
After finishing these interviews, I wondered, are we taking sports too seriously in China?
It's only after great focus and effort on certain sports (ie table tennis and diving) that China has become dominant. And once China has become dominant in one of these sports, it's easier to attract top class athletes to continue that dominance.
Good luck to all the athletes, no matter which country you are competing for.
Tags: GaoJun EvaLee CrystalHuang US California TableTennis Badminton 
