Xie wins silver in 110-meter hurdles, Liu Xiang to see U.S. doctors
Tuesday, 23rd September 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
In a very thin field at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, China's Xie Wenjun took the silver medal in the 110 meter hurdles, the event that his teammate Liu Xiang failed to defend his Olympic gold in this summer.Xie ran the race in 13.47, coming in behind David Oliver of the USA, who won bronze at the 2008 Olympics. It was a personal best for the 18-year-old Xie.
In other news regarding China's favorite track and field event, Liu Xiang, who was in attendance at the Shanghai Grand Prix, is heading to the United States in October, for a medical evaluation of the injury that kept him out of the Beijing Olympics. According to Chinese media reports, there is debate over whether he should seek surgery or use traditional Chinese methods to address his chronic Achilles heel condition.
Tags: 110-meter hurdles, athletics, Liu Xiang, track and field, Xie Wenjun
China dominant in Paralympics
Tuesday, 16th September 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Archer Chen Changjie celebrates his gold medal.
China is tops in seven different disciplines: archery (2 gold, 7 total); athletics (34 gold, 64 total); goalball (1 gold, 2 total); judo (4 gold, 7 total); powerlifting (8 gold, 12 total); table tennis (10 gold, 18 total); wheelchair fencing (5 gold, 9 total).
Unlike in the Olympics, China is a force in the pool at the Paralympics, finishing second to the United States with 13 gold medals to the USA's 17. The hosts actually led the overall medal count in swimming, with 52 to the United States' 44.
Athletics will dominate today's schedule, with 26 of its remaining 31medals to be awarded. Football, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, table tennis and wheelchair fencing also have gold medal competitions over the next two days.
Chen Changjie image: Paralympic.beijing2008.cn
Tags: archery, athletics, Beijing, goalball, gold medals, judo, Paralympics, powerlifting, table tennis, wheelchair fencing
Olympic marketing: How did sportswear brands do?
Friday, 29th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
For sports apparel brands, the Olympics are arguably the most important stage for marketing. So how did the sports marketers fare with the Chinese market in these Olympics? Here's a look at how things played out for Adidas, Li-Ning, Nike, Puma and Speedo.Adidas
Adidas reportedly shelled out 70 million euros to be an official Olympic sponsor. Adidas gear was also all over Olympians, great for television. But aside from shoes and uniforms, Adidas wasn't particularly visible in Olympic venues. It had no special presence on the Olympic Green, but its beautiful flagship store in Sanlitun near the Workers' Stadium and Workers' Gymnasium saw lots of foot traffic.
Adidas' Olympic sponsorship allowed it to use the Bird's Nest and Olympic logo.
Its Olympic ad campaign, though beautifully designed and fitting in concept (Together in 2008, Impossible is Nothing), came up short in the personnel categories. That campaign had four primary faces, in sports that are very popular in China--diver Hu Jia, footballer Zheng Zhi, basketball player Sui Feifei and a few women's volleyball players. Hu pulled out due to injury, Zheng and the men's football team had an embarrassing performance and Sui Feifei was only sixth in scoring on Team China. The women's volleyball team played strong in a very tough field, but in the end only came through with the minimum result acceptable to the hometown fans, a bronze medal.
Li-Ning
China's biggest sports apparel brand had the biggest marketing coup of the games—its founder, Li Ning, carrying the Olympic flame on a three-minute slow-motion run to the top of the Bird's Nest, where he lit the Olympic cauldron. The company's stock went up the next day, and Li Ning will always have his stamp on what seems to be an especially important part of the Olympics to Chinese fans.
Li-Ning's storefronts were generic during the games, but there was nothing generic about its opening ceremony product placement.
Li Ning also had its name on the uniforms of China's diving and table tennis teams, who delivered dominant performances, as well as the Spanish national basketball team, which gave Team USA a tough match before losing in the gold medal game.
Nike
Nike's two biggest bets on Chinese athletes were Yi Jianlian and Liu Xiang. Yi was solid but not explosive, averaging 9 points a game. The Chinese national team, wearing Nike jerseys, didn't really exceed expectations, but certainly didn't come up short, making it to the quarterfinals before losing to Lithuania. But Chinese fans were more excited about catching a glimpse of Team USA, who were also sporting Nike's hot new jersey, available in stores all over Beijing.
Nike had to deal with the toughest spin job of any Olympic marketer this year—how to salvage its investment in China's biggest sports star, Liu Xiang, when he didn't even compete in the games. Nike's immediate answer--a full page ad celebrating the love of sport even in defeat--succeeded in becoming part of the stream of catharsis after Liu bowed out. Nike got some negative publicity for its efforts to hunt down netizens who alleged that the shoe company had coerced Liu to drop out rather than lose to Robles.
Nike hedged its big-name bets by backing lesser-known athletes as well.
But Liu and Yi weren't the only athletes that Nike put is name behind. It was all over team China, and ready with full-page ads in China Daily and front-page ads in Titan sports news when any of its athletes won a medal or had a strong performance. Swimmer Zhang Lin (silver medalist), boxer Zou Shiming (gold medalist) and beach volleyball duo Tian Jia and Wang Fei (silver medalists) were just a few of the lower-profile high-achieving athletes that Nike celebrated in its Olympic campaign.
Puma
Dollar for dollar, Puma might have gotten the most of its Olympic investment. Its hopes ran on two spiked shoes-- those of sprinter Usain Bolt, who loped across the finish line to set the 100-meter dash world record. China loves a winner, and Bolt and the dominant Jamaican team were very well-received in Beijing. Jacques Rogge can complain all he wants, but most Chinese don't mind a guy who's willing to revel in his moment.
Speedo
If you weren't wearing a Speedo LZR Racer in this Olympics, you might as well never leave the Water Cube's warm-up pool. Nine out of every 10 swimming gold medals went to LZR wearers. The only complaint that people had about the LZR was that it made swimmers too fast, world records too common. The suit was considered such an integral part of success that Nike agreed to let its swimmers wear LZRs instead of Nike suits. Speedo doesn't have a big presence at Chinese sports retailers—swimwear here tends to be generic instead of branded—but China, along with the rest of the world, has no choice but to see Speedo as the leader in swimwear technology.
Tags: Adidas, athletics, Beijing Olympics, Hu Jia, Li-Ning, Liu Xiang, marketing, Nike, Olympics, Puma, Speedo, Sui Feifei, swimming, Tian Jia, Titan, Usain Bolt, volleyball, Wang Fei, Zhang Lin, Zheng Zhi, Zou Shiming
Inside National Stadium for the Liu Xiang-less race
Friday, 22nd August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
I got extremely lucky about a month before the games started, when a friend of a friend sold me a pair of tickets at face value for last night's athletics (track and field) event at National Stadium in Beijing, aka the Bird's Nest.It was the night that Liu Xiang would have defended his 110-meter hurdles gold from 2004. It was supposed to be a showdown between Liu—who had been elevated to superhuman status in China over the past four years—and world record holder Dayron Robles of Cuba, along with the USA's Terrence Trammell. But only Robles would run, as both Liu and Trammell had pulled out with injuries.
After Liu left the stadium rather than run his preliminary heat Monday, scores of Chinese fans reportedly headed for the exits. Given that China now had no man in the race, and no medal contenders in any of the evening's finals, attendance looked strong Thursday night, with few empty seats visible in the tk-seat stadium. The bargain basement 200-yuan tickets being sold by scalpers outside might have had something to do with it.
I took my seat in the third tier. It was my first time inside the Bird's Nest, and I have good news to report: Even up near the ceiling, the view of the track and the field is pretty good. The nosebleeds in the stadium are much better than the ones in the nearby Water Cube.
Throughout the course of the evening, it became clear that Chinese fans appreciate the stellar sprint performance that Jamaica has had this year. After Chinese athletes, it was the runners in yellow and green who got the loudest cheers.
Despite the fact that Liu was absent, it seemed that the crowd considered his race the marquee event of the evening. After it ended, the stadium began to empty quickly. Have the Chinese actually become fans of the 110-meter hurdles race or had they been holding out hope that Liu Xiang would somehow show up? Maybe they heard about the Nike conspiracy theory and thought Jacques Rogge and the IOC would step in and give Liu a spot in the final.
Though it still seemed to be the moment that many of the spectators had come to see, when Robles crossed the finish line in 12.93 seconds, he was met with the quietest applause of any of the night's gold medalists. And my enthusiastic cheers for USA runners David Payne and David Oliver, who came in second and third, were met with long looks by my neighbors.
It must have been a bitter night for Liu Xiang fans. For Team USA, it was bittersweet. America's high moment of the evening was its gold-silver-bronze sweep of the men's 400 meters. But the lows were lower than a middle school high jump bar—both the US men and women dropped the baton in their 4 X 100 meters relay preliminary heats, ending the medal hopes of these heavily favored teams. When the men dropped their baton, it seemed to give some Chinese fans a sense of relief—I distinctly heard ripples of laughter in the stadium when the moment was replayed on the jumbotron.
Tags: 110m hurdles, athletics, Beijing Olympics, Bird's Nest, Liu Xiang, National Stadium, Olympics, track and field
Injured Liu Xiang withdraws from Olympics
Monday, 18th August 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
UPDATE: For some great links to coverage about the Chinese reaction to Liu Xiang's injury, check out this Shanghaiist post.For Chinese fans, they were, without a doubt, the three most anticipated events of the 2008 Olympics: the opening ceremony, Yao Ming and the men's basketball team's showdown with Team USA, and Liu Xiang's (刘翔) defense of his Olympic gold in the 110-meter hurdles.
Now the third one won't happen, as Liu—world record holder until a couple of months ago—withdrew from his preliminary heat this morning in the Bird's Nest. Liu showed up to the race, but he looked far from ready, grimacing and hobbling through warm-ups. He took his mark with the other competitors on the track. But after another runner false started, the injured hurdler tore off his numbers and turned to walk away from the race.
Liu Xiang crawling on the track during warmups
It was known that Liu spent the summer battling a bum hamstring. His coach, Sun Haiping, said in a news conference today that Liu also had a several years-old injury in to his achilles tendon that became more serious recently. Unable to hold back tears, Sun spoke of Liu's dedication to the sport and the pain he had struggled with in recent weeks. Asked whether Liu had known before today's event that he would not compete, the coach gave a rambling reply that ultimately didn't address the question. Sun had said three weeks ago that Liu was still not perfectly healthy but had run a strong 13.18.
The last time Liu raced was in late May at the Good Luck Beijing Athletics Open. He breezed to victory in an Olympic test event in the Bird's Nest. On June 2, Liu dropped out of the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, citing a tight hamstring. The following week, he was disqualified from the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon for a double false start.
The importance of Liu to these Olympics, Chinese sports in general and many Chinese people on a personal level cannot be overstated. He was the first Chinese male to win track and field gold. His face is ubiquitous on billboards and magazine covers from Beijing to Chengdu, and he is the country's top-earning athlete after Yao Ming.
Newspaper columnist Raymond Zhou of China Daily had compared Liu's run at gold to Barack Obama's run for the U.S. presidency. Zhou told China Sports Today before the games began, "We Chinese often convince ourselves that Chinese, and Asians in general, are not good at track and field. If Liu Xiang can consistently break that stereotype, it gives people hope that Asians can compete."
The pressure Liu was under was tremendous, and it can be seen in the reactions shown on TV today. Sun wasn't the only person shedding tears. CCTV showed shots of many in the crowd at the stadium who were visibly moved by Liu's collapse, and the state television station's commentators seemed to be barely containing their emotion when delivering the news.
The USA's Terrence Trammell was also sidelined by injury, leaving his fellow American David Oliver as the top challenger to the world record holder, Cuba's Dayron Robles.
Related:
Liu Xiang's record broken
Liu Xiang grounded again
Liu Xiang drops out of NY race
Image: hc360.com
Tags: athletics, Beijing Olympics, Bird's Nest, Dayron Robles, Liu Xiang, Olympics, track and field
Robles ties Liu's former world record
Saturday, 19th July 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
If you live in China, you can be forgiven for believing that Liu Xiang (刘翔) is assured to win the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the Beijing Olympics. But Liu, whose name used to appear next to the words "world record holder" and "odds-on" favorite, is far from invincible. Cuba's Dayron Robles broke his record last month, running the race in 12.87 seconds in Ostrava, Czech Republic. And yesterday, Robles silenced any doubt that he is the real deal, clocking a 12.88 in an IAAF race in Paris. Americans Terrence Trammell and Antwon Hicks ran 13.19 and 13.27, respectively.Chinese friends of mine, often prone to excessive humility when it comes to their nation's athletes, are still completely bullish on Liu. He will win, they say, because Robles and the others are scared of him. But it's hard to see why the current world record holder should be afraid of Liu, whose fastest time this year is a 13.18 (at the Good Luck Beijing Athletics China Open in May) and who skipped his next race due to a hamstring injury and double faulted at the one after that. No doubt he knows Liu is a great athlete and competitor, but you don't break the world record and then show up to the Olympics shaking in your spikes.
Liu says his hamstring is still not totally healthy, but the 25-year-old is playing the age card on Robles, according to Reuters: "I feel like he is born to be a hurdler," Liu said of his 21-year-old rival. "He is terrific. But I still believe I am able to beat him. After all, he is younger than me."
On the evening of Thursday, August 21, at National Stadium in Beijing, we'll get to find out if Liu is right.
Related:
Liu Xiang drops out of NY race
Liu Xiang's record broken
Liu Xiang grounded again
Tags: athletics, Dayron Robles, Liu Xiang, track and field
Liu Xiang's Record Broken
Friday, 13th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Ostrava, Czech Republic—The 110-meter hurdles race in the Olympics this August just got a lot more interesting, as Cuba's Dayron Robles took the "world record holder" prefix off of the name of one of China's favorite athletes.
Robles ran a 12.87, .01 seconds faster than Liu's best time, at the Golden Spike meet. Liu became one of the most famous people in China when he set the world record in 2004 and has dominated the event ever since. But he's had a shaky time of late, withdrawing from the Reebok Grand Prix with a tight hamstring and then getting disqualified for a false start at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon.
Image: AP
Tags: athletics, Dayron Robles, Liu Xiang, track and field
Liu Xiang Grounded Again
Monday, 9th June 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Liu on the cover of Men's Vogue China in April
"I don't really know what happened on the false start," he told an interpreter. "My speed is so fast I did not realize I had the false start."
Liu has been nursing a tight right hamstring, but he and his trainer say he will definitely run in the Beijing Olympics in August. As the world record holder in the 110-meter hurdles, one of China's few track and field medal hopes and an endorsement juggernaut, Liu might have the most important pair of legs in China right now (yes, more important than Yao Ming's).
Image: haibao.cn
Tags: athletics, Liu Xiang, Olympics, track and field
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