This article also appears in The Atlantic, a Tea Leaf Nation partner site. In March of 2008, the New York Times announced that marathoner Haile Gebrselassie would skip his signature event in the Beijing Olympics. After the news leaked, the world-record holder told reporters bluntly, “The pollution in China is a threat to my health.” The [...]
It was a drab February day in 2009. I sat in my college dorm room four floors above York Street, drinking instant coffee and languorously gazing out the window at pedestrians below—miniature fortresses of warmth set against knuckle-tightening air. That’s when I saw the email. At first, I thought it was from Yan herself. It [...]
Chinese Olympic diver Wu Minxia must have been feeling ecstatic after winning her third consecutive Olympic gold in the women’s synchronized 3-meter springboard competition on Sunday, July 29th. But when the competition ended, the young Olympian’s father approached her with shocking news: Wu’s grandparents had already been dead for a year. If that wasn’t jarring [...]
China’s sports system is under serious fire from its own citizens. On Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, Li Chengpeng (@李承鹏) recently wrote a scathing blog entry on China’s sports system. He called China’s Olympics team a “dancing troupe,” and continued, “[sports officials] over-emphasize quantity but not quality, beauty and influence. They would be happiest if gold [...]
Nike rolled out its new ad campaign, “Find Your Greatness,” in China recently, as the nation was on fire with Olympic fever. The Chinese version of the slogan is just as catchy as its English equivalent, and might be more literally translated as “Live out Your Greatness” or “Bring Your Greatness to Life.” Many people [...]
Badminton is on fire, and it’s not from backyard barbecues. Strong reactions and sharp words reverberated on China’s microblogs from the decision by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to expel eight pairs of female players, including one pair of Chinese players, from the Olympics for deliberately throwing matches. (See here for a summary of why the players tried to lose.) [...]
Badminton is on fire, and it’s not from backyard barbecues. Strong reactions and sharp words reverberated on China’s microblogs from the decision by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to expel eight pairs of female players, including one pair of Chinese players, from the Olympics for deliberately throwing matches. (See here for a summary of why the players tried to lose.) [...]
Who said there’s no crying in weight lifting? On July 29, Chinese Men’s weight lifter Wu Jingbiao broke down in tears after losing a “sure” gold to his North Korean competitor. At first, Wu found himself unable to speak. When he finally approached the camera, his first words rang out in frustration: “I shamed my [...]
Who said there’s no crying in weight lifting? On July 29, Chinese Men’s weight lifter Wu Jingbiao broke down in tears after losing a “sure” gold to his North Korean competitor. At first, Wu found himself unable to speak. When he finally approached the camera, his first words rang out in frustration: “I shamed my [...]
The games of the 30th Olympiad opened with a grand ceremony titled “Isles of Wonder,” created by the English film director Danny Boyle, best known for his work on the films Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Days Later. Boyle acknowledged the sheer extravagance and synchronization of the Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony, having been quoted as saying, [...]
The games of the 30th Olympiad opened with a grand ceremony titled “Isles of Wonder,” created by the English film director Danny Boyle, best known for his work on the films Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Days Later. Boyle acknowledged the sheer extravagance and synchronization of the Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony, having been quoted as saying, [...]
The 2012 London Olympics are only a few days underway and the Games have already seen its fair share of athletic marvels. Having adopted the official Olympic slogan “inspire a generation,” London organizers hope to showcase the trials of Olympic athletes and inspire the world. But over the last generation, the rest of the world [...]
Follow Tea Leaf Nation