From Barcelona to Athens (1992–2004): ‘Juguo Tizhi’ and China's quest for global power and Olympic glory

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. The Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Collection of the Documents for the Bid of the 2008 Olympics. 2. For example, between 1990 and 1999, only 1.88% of the national and provincial sport budget was invested in mass sport programmes. 3. Wu, The History of Sport of the PRC, 49. 4. Sports Ministry, ‘Strategy of Winning Medals at the Olympics (1994–2000)’, 6 July 1995, 1. 5. Ibid. 6. Fan, Wu, and Xiong, ‘Beijing Ambitions: An Analysis of the Chinese Elite sport System and its Olympic Strategy for the 2008 Olympic Games’, 26. 7. Wu, The History of Sport of the PRC, 364. 8. Sports Ministry, ‘Strategy of Winning Medals at the Olympics (2001–2010)’. 9. Fan, Mackay, and Cristensen, China Gold: China's Quest for Global Power and Olympic Glory. 10. Ibid. 11. Zhang, ‘The Reform and Open-up and Chinese Sport?’, 4. 12. ‘State Council's Plan of System Reform’, People's Daily, 11 March 1998. 13. Ibid. 14. Sports Ministry, Sport in China since the Reform and Opening-up, 242. 15. Ibid., 243. 16. Huang, ‘Foreign Coaches served the Chinese Olympic Squad’, Yangzi Evening Post, 26 August 2008. 17. Jie Su, ‘Where is the Way Out for Them? The Hard Life of Retired Athletes’, Xinhua, http://news.xinhuanet.com/sports/2005-08/24/content_3395074.htm (accessed 18 June 2010). 18. Ibid. 19. Sports Ministry, Sport in China since the Reform and Opening-up. 20. Deng, ‘From Bound Feet to Olympic Gold in China: The Case of Women's Chinese Table Tennis’. 21. Fan, Fan, and Lu, ‘Changes in Chinese Sports Policy: Pre-and Post-Beijing Olympic Games’. 22. Sports Ministry, the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Human Resource and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, ‘Suggestions on the Re-employment of Retired Athletes’, 29 September 2002. National Sports Archives, the Sports Ministry, Beijing. 23. The Ministry of Education established the ‘Standard for University Recruit Students with Sport Talent’ in 2006. 24. Fan, Fan, and Lu, ‘Changes in Chinese Sports Policy: Pre-and Post-Beijing Olympic Games’. 25. Interview of a former Sports Ministry official by the author, 18 July 2010. 26. Filip Bondy, ‘Barcelona: Swimming; Going got Gold, Thompson Says She “Choked”’, The New York Times, 27 July 1992. 27. Editorial Team of the Yearbook of Chinese Sport, Yearbook of Chinese Sport (1992–1993). 28. Yang Chuan-kwang won the silver medal in the decathlon at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, making him the first ever Taiwan athlete to win an Olympic silver medal. 29. Sports Ministry, Sport in China since the Reform and Opening-up, 93–94. 30. ‘1996: Bomb rocks Atlanta Olympics’, BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/27/newsid_3920000/3920865.stm (accessed 6 June 2010). 31. ‘Full Text of Eric Rudolph's Confession: NPR’, NPR (National Public Radio), http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4600480 (accessed 6 June 2010), paragraph 18. 32. Wang claimed the world title in the 10,000 m in Stuttgart, Germany in 1993. She also won the World Cup Marathon Championships in late 1993. She was awarded the Jesse Owens prize in 1994 and became the first Chinese and Asian athlete to win the prize. She began to train under coach Mao Dezhen to prepare for the 1996 Olympics. See ‘Magic Oriental Deer’, Hunan Satellite Channel, 15 March 2005, http://www.hunantv.com/lanmu/story/huigu/news_60.htm 33. Sports Ministry, Sport in China since the Reform and Opening-up, 95. 34. Editorial Team of the Yearbook of Chinese Sport, Yearbook of Chinese Sport (1997). 35. Hong Kong's sovereignty was transferred to China in 1997. 36. Reporter, ‘Taiwanese Spectators Arrested’, The Washington Post, 1 August 1996. 37. Liu, ‘Promote Chinese Athletes' Spirit’, 4–5. 38. Ibid. 39. Yibin Song, ‘The United States Crowned the Champion. China Achieved Great Success’, Zaobao, 4 October 2000. 40. Li, Touch China – China's Success at the Sydney Olympics. 41. ‘Summing-up Meeting of the Chinese Olympic Delegation’, Zaobao, 5 October 2000. 42. Xu, Olympic Dreams China and Sports 1895–2008. 43. ‘Summing-up Meeting of the Chinese Olympic Delegation’. 44. Xiaguang Wang, Hongshen Zhen, and Xuejiang Li, ‘The 27th Olympics Finished’, People's Daily (Overseas Edition), 2 October 2000. 45. ‘Dragon Rise in the East – The Olympics Witnessed the Transformation of China’, Chongqing Business Daily, 3 October 2000. 46. ‘The Age Scandal Humiliated China’, Qianshan Evening Echo, 30 April 2010. 47. ‘China “Accept” Decision to Strip Them of Olympic Bronze’, BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/gymnastics/8649850.stm (accessed 2 August 2010). 48. ‘Brave Liu Xiang Did It! Chinese Fans Jubilant’, China Daily, 28 August 2004. 49. Reporter, ‘Chinese Women Back to Top Volleyball World’, News Guangdong, http://www.newsgd.com/specials/athensgames/athensgamesnews/200408290001.htm (accessed 2 August 2010). 50. Ibid. 51. Tracey Holmes, ‘China takes the Olympic limelight’, CNN (Cable News Network), http://edition.cnn.com/2004/SPORT/08/30/athens.games/ (accessed 2 August 2010), paragraph 13. 52. Fan, Mackay, and Cristensen, China Gold: China's Quest for Global Power and Olympic Glory, 7–8.