05.21.06
Track and Field News
The IAAF reports on the Asian Grand Prix in Bangkok. Chinese winners included Meng Yan (men’s 400-meter hurdles), Feng Yun (women’s 100-meter hurdles), and Song Aimin (women’s discus throw).
Olympic Volleyball Venue Under Renovation
The China Daily reports on the renovation of Capital Indoor Stadium, the Olympic volleyball venue. The renovation began last Thursday and is expected to last until late 2007. For statistics buffs, the article reports that there will be a total of 31 Olympic venues used for 26 sports during the Beijing Olympics. Eleven are existing, eleven will be new, and nine will be temporary structures.
World Cup television schedule for CCTV
China Daily is running a short news item reporting that CCTV will televise all World Cup matches live from Germany. CCTV will be using three of its channels (CCTV-1 and CCTV-2, in addition to the regular sports channel CCTV-5) to accomplish the feat. Great news for football fans in China (and hopefully the schedule won’t change once it’s set…).
If It’s Summer, It Must Be Doping
Doping stories are sure to take center stage this summer as the big endurance and strength sports start their 2006 outdoor seasons. The San Jose Mercury News has just published an excellent piece on the realities of doping in track and field. Though this article isn’t specifically China-related, it’s a must-read for those tracking doping issues ahead of the 2008 Olympics. For the record, the Chinese Olympic Committee has come out very strongly against doping and the Chinese Olympic Committee Anti-Doping Commission has both Chinese and English-language websites devoted to providing the public with information about the nation’s anti-doping efforts.
For more information about China’s anti-doping efforts, check out “China’s anti-doping quality control system wins international certification” on the Beijing 2008 website.
Around The Rings
The Beijing 2008 page at Around The Rings has a summary of recent headlines that may be helpful to those who are interested in the goings-on of BOCOG and the progress of getting the Olympics up and running. Subscriptions are required to read full articles but the headline page is a freebie.
CCTV-5 Schedule…Still changing!
Hi everyone - A quick note on the CCTV-5 schedules. After posting last week’s NBA schedule on the CCTV-5 page on the blog, I came back to the schedule today to see that several things had changed…no Sunday morning game today, and a 9:30 a.m. start time for the Saturday game. Just something to keep in mind about CCTV. Each week I’ll put up the NBA schedule and will try to check in during the week to see what, if anything, changes.
05.19.06
BOCOG News
2008-related news items today:
BOCOG World Press Briefing and World Broadcaster Meeting to be held later this year.
2008 Olympic volunteer program open to all around the world, according to BOCOG executive vice president.
05.18.06
IOC Coordination Commission in Beijing
The China Daily reports that the IOC’s Coordination Commission meeting in Beijing this week has been a success. This article reads like good old-fashioned propaganda, but does give a basic overview of the Commission’s actions in Beijing and the progress of venue construction. The article also gives a good introduction of some of the major players on the China side of the 2008 Olympics.
Shen and Zhao In The News
China’s legendary pairs figure skaters Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo are training to compete in next year’s World Championships. The two-time Olympic bronze medalists turned in excellent performances at the Turin Olympics despite Zhao’s Achilles tendon injury in August 2005, which nearly derailed their entire season. I was fortunate enough to be there for their Olympic performances - they were stunning. This is great news for fans of pairs figure skating, especially for the pair that started the run of excellence we’re now seeing in Chinese pairs skating.
05.17.06
Blog In a Blackout!
Hello readers…the China Sports Blog will be updated as soon as possible. I’m in Beijing but the hotel’s server is down, so no Internet for now. I’ll post the last few days’ news soon. The IOC is in Beijing inspecting venues this week, and according to news reports, it’s going well. More later when the server’s back. In the meantime, enjoy those NBA games on CCTV-5.