A slam-dunk for Yao, our national flag bearer

2008-8-8  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

TOWERING Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming is already a winner - before the Olympic Games even start.

His legion of fans could have told you that, but his country has added that official stamp of approval.

Yao will be the flag bearer for China for the second time, following on from Athens, as he leads the Chinese team into the National Stadium, or Bird's Nest, in tonight's opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

"Yao Ming is an excellent player, has good sportsmanship and enjoys a great public image, which meet our criteria of selecting the flag bearer," said Cui Dalin, deputy head and general secretary of the Chinese Olympic delegation.

Yao went through the Tian'anmen Gate on Wednesday as the No. 9 bearer during the first day of Beijing's torch relay, which ruled him out of lighting the flame at the opening ceremony.

Yao now gets the chance to continue a Chinese flag-bearer tradition. Basketballers Wang Libin (1984), Song Tao (1988), Song Li (1992) and Liu Yudong (1996 and 2000) have preceded him.

"It's exciting to be the flag bearer again in the host land," Yao said. "It will be totally different from my experience in Athens. I'm afraid I'll have to wear earplugs.''

"Unlike holding the torch, where you can be relaxed and creative, holding the national flag will be a serious issue. I will take it seriously," he said.

Born in Shanghai in 1980, Yao is the Houston Rockets' center in the United States National Basketball Association. He is the tallest player in the NBA, at 2.26 meters and is married to Ye Li, a former star in the Chinese women's national basketball team.

China is sending a 1,099-member delegation to the Games, including 639 athletes and 460 officials, coaches, doctors and other staff.

"We never set gold-medal targets," Cui said. However, China had a huge advantage in sports like table tennis, gymnastics, shooting and badminton, he said.