China's 2010 Winter Olympians: Liu Jiayu, snowboarding
Thursday, 18th February 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (4)
UPDATE:Despite heading into the final in second place, Liu finished just out of the medals at 4th, behind Tora Bright of Australia, and Hannah Teeter and Kelly Clark of the USA. Sun Zhifeng came in 7th. Despite a medal-less day, China held steady at 9th in the medal standings.
Snowboarder Liu Jiayu (刘佳宇) started training in 2003, and shook up the snowboarding world order when she won the world championship in the halfpipe last year at the age of 17. Liu uses wushu (Chinese martial arts) in her training, according to this CCTV report. Like all of China's medalists to date in these Olympics, she was born in Harbin in far north Heilongjiang province. Liu's success in the sport doesn't reflect a snowboarding boom on the mainland, it is among several extreme sports that are growing in popularity. For videos of Chinese snowboarders, skateboarders, surfers and parkour runners, check out Niurenku.com.
The women's halfpipe competition takes place Feb. 18--qualifying round at 12:30 PST (4:30 a.m. Beijing time, Feb 19), semifinals 4:00 p.m. PST (8:00 a.m. Beijing time, Feb 19) and finals at 6:00 PST (10:00 a.m. Beijing time, Feb 19).
China also has a sliver of a medal hope in women's speedskating Thursday, as 500-meter bronze medalist Wang Beixing takes to the ice again. She is not as strong in the 1,000-meter event; her best ever finish was sixth at the Nagano World Championships in 2008, and she dropped to 10th at worlds last year. Also skating for China are Yu Jing, Ren Hui, Jin Peiyu.
Video:
CCTV report on Liu Jiayu
Metacafe.com on Liu's world cup win
Liu Jiayu on NBCOlympics.com
Liu Jiayu image: Sports.sina.com
Tags: China's 2010 Winter Olympians, Liu Jiayu, snowboarding, speedskating, Wang Beixin
Fin First at Nanshan
Monday, 11th January 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Juuso competing at Red Bull Nanshan Open
Finaland's Jusso Laiviso was the winner at this weekend's 8th Red Bull Nanshan Open in Beijing. Sergey Lapushkin, of Russia, and David Bertschinger Karg, of Switerland, came in second and third.
The top Chinese rider at the biggest Asian event on the Swatch Ticket To Ride World Snowboard Tour.was Wang Lei, in ninth place. With he Red Bull Open finished, Nanshan's Fat Saturdays board sessions start on January 23.
Check out this video of some event highlights from Niurenku.com.
Tags: Red Bull Nanshan Open, snowboarding, winter sports
Nanshan Open this weekend in Beijing
Thursday, 7th January 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Local riders at Nanshan, January 2010
A video team from Niurenku.com, China's new action sports video Web site, went out to Nanshan for the local qualifiers a couple of weeks ago, and produced this video.
Local qualifiers for the 8th Red Bull Nanshan Open are Andrew Wilde, He Wei, Li Jie, Ming Ming, Li Penghuan and Jokey Tong. For more video of the event, check out Niurenku next week, or the Red Bull Open's Sina.com page. For information including schedule, results, directions and transportation, check out MellowParks.cn
Image courtesy of Mellow Parks
Tags: Mello Parks, Nanshan, Niurenku.com, Red Bull Nanshan Open, Sina.com, snowboarding
Cool stuff: China snowboarding film sneak peek
Monday, 29th June 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
mellowparks.cn "happy 牛 year" teaser from Steve Zdarsky on Vimeo.
With the stifling hot temperatures beating down on Beijing lately, it's a good time for daydreaming about all things ice cold. In that spirit, we bring you this promotional video for "Happy 牛 Year," a Chinese snowboarding movie from Melloparks.cn set to hit the streets in December. That's "牛" as in "niu," Chinese for bull, the zodiac sign for 2009. "牛" is also found in the Chinese name for the beverage Red Bull (Hong Niu), a familiar brand in action sports and the title sponsor of the Red Bull Nanshan Open. Quiksilver, Nitro, Dakine and Nanshan Ski are all sponsors of the film. It will be available free at various locations in China, including Quiksilver and Nitro retail locations. Much of the film was shot at Quiksilver Nanshan Mello Park in Beijing.
Tags: Dakine, Melloparks.cn, Nanshan Mello Park, Nanshan Ski, Nitro, Quiksilver, Red Bull, Red Bull Nanshan Open, snowboarding
Weekend Events, January 10-11
Friday, 9th January 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
What: Competition featuring 24 riders, including four locals. In addition to competing for $25,000 USD in prize money, top performers at this event will earn global ranking points on the Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour. The event also includes a DJ on Saturday, and live band on Sunday. Admission is 20 yuan.
Where: Beijing's Quiksilver Nanshan Mellow Park, 40 kilometers northeast of the Beijing Airport (map)
When: January 10-11, with competition beginning at 11:00 both days. Finals start at 11:00 on Sunday. View the whole schedule here.
(Related story from World Snowboard Guide: Nanshan Open gets TTR status.)
Ice hockey: China Sharks vs. Nippon Paper Cranes (link)
What: The China Sharks and Nippon Paper Cranes (Japan) meet in an Asian Hockey League match. The Sharks' roster includes five players provided by the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL), and Chinese-Canadian Kevin Du.
Where: Shanghai's Songjiang University Student Sports Center (2000 Wenxiang Road)
When: January 10, 7:05 p.m.
Martial arts: Ultimate Combat Championships
What: 16 fighters from five countries face off in Sanda, Muay Thai, sambo, judo, jiu-jitsu and kickboxing. The fights will also air on Shanxi television, channel 7.
When: January 11, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Xi'an Jiatong University Gymnasium
Image: Mellow Parks China
Tags: Beijing, ice hockey, martial arts, Shanghai, snowboarding, Xi'an