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Underdog Sichuan Relay Team Wins at Bird's Nest

Tuesday, 27th May 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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Liu Xiang won the 110-meter hurdles at the weekend's Good Luck Beijing Athletics Open—no surprise there. And he praised the track at the Bird's Nest—also not surprising. But what was surprising, and inspiring, at the meet, was the come-from-behind victory of the Sichuan relay team in the 4X100 meters race.

The 4X100 final was supposed to be a run-off between the Chinese national team and Japan, and toward the end of the third leg it looked like that was exactly what would happen. But the Chinese team fumbled the last baton handoff, leaving Japan in the lead with Guangdong (province) in second. In the final leg, though, Yin Hualong from Sichuan overtook the Japanese front runner from two meters behind, winning the race for Sichuan with a time of 39.45 seconds.

It was an unexpected and uplifting victory for the team from the province that has seen so much devastation since the May 12 Wenchuan earthquake. Yin reportedly pointed to the name of his province on his jersey and proudly declared "I'm from Sichuan!" at the finish.

Tags: Good Luck Beijing, Liu Xiang, Sichuan

Sichuan Sports Infrastructure Hit, Athletes Relocating

Friday, 23rd May 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

The 8.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Sichuan May 12 has seriously affected athletic facilities in Sichuan, says Xinhua. Wenchuan's new complex at Aba Normal Institute—including a gymnasium, a swimming pool and a stadium—have been destroyed. A 3,000-seat gymnasium in Jiangyou city has also been leveled. In the Chengdu area, the Zhang Shan Training Center and the Land Sports Training School have been designated "hazardous buildings."

Sichuan–based athletes on both Olympic and provincial teams are now being relocated to other parts of China. Track and field athletes will stay in Beijing after this weekend's Good Luck Beijing test event; gymnasts and wushu athletes will train in Guangxi; provincial wrestling, swimming, diving and women's soccer teams are headed to Shandong; some volleyball teams are headed to Yunnan. Shanghai and Guizhou will be the training sites for the synchronized swim team and Guizhou will take table tennis players.

While no specific reports have come in, it seems inevitable that many athletes have lost loved ones and/or seen major damage to their family homes.

Tags: Sichuan, Wenchuan earthquake