From “Ping Pong Diplomacy” to the Beijing Olympics, the importance of sports has been one constant throughout China’s epic societal transformation. But just like nearly everything else in Chinese society, contradictions have emerged and politics perhaps plays a bigger role than it should. We’ve seen record gold medal hauls, but also world class athletes begging in the subway. Li Na was able to “break the system” and reach the highest levels of tennis success, but China still can’t pull a respectable soccer team out of its 1.3 billion-strong population.
In today’s episode, we explore the wide world of PRC sports with Stuart Wiggin, a sports reporter and columnist for China Radio International, and Shao Zhijie, a reporter for Goal.com and a former staff editor for Sports Illustrated China.
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Links
Wikipedia – Project 119
Economic Observer - Ending to Gymnast Turned Beggar Story Not So Happy
New York Times - Li Na, China’s Tennis Rebel
GQ - Welcome to the Far Eastern Conference (Profile on Stephen Marbury)