By Andray Abrahamian There was something approaching unabashed joy at Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony for London 2012. Partly because it was a creative way to render the best of Britain on stage, partly because the soundtrack was great, but mostly because it stood up to the incredible spectacle of Beijing. After the handover at the... Read more »
A Ye Shiwen ad on CCTV-5 preceded the race. Coming off the block in the fourth lane, she appeared to emerge from the water and break into the butterfly too early, but she was still in first place coming off the turn. She was barely in first after the backstroke, but slipped to third after... Read more »
You don't need to know Chinese to appreciate this video (though the subtitles by chnnewsengsub are appreciated).
Wu Jingbiao, the two-time reigning World Weightlifting Championships gold-medalist, was the favorite to win on Sunday, and would have if not for North Korean Om Yun Chol's perfect day. In his post-lift interview, Wu was inconsolable. “I feel terribly guilty for disappointing my country, the Chinese weightlifting team and all the people who supported me," he said. "I really wanted to be the best but I didn’t make it. I am sorry!"
While we all await Ye Shiwen’s next race — she’s the top qualifier (and Olympic record-holder) in the 200-meter individual medley, which begins at 8:43 pm London time / 3:43 am Beijing time — you might be interested to know that women’s gymnastics is on right now. Other Olympics stuff happened too, as you’ll see... Read more »
We’re at the point where Ye Shiwen can no longer be found guilty in China, if that makes sense. This issue has become about more than swimming. If it ever does come to light that Ye used a banned substance, I suspect the relevant organs will find a scapegoat who admits that he accidentally put... Read more »
UPDATE, 6:19 pm: The Ku6 video has been pulled, but you can watch the full race on Sina here if you’re within mainland China (they don’t allow embedding). All eyes will be on Ye Shiwen tonight (8:43 pm London, 3:43 am Beijing) when she competes in the 200-meter individual medley (she set an Olympic record... Read more »
Ye Shiwen, the 16-year-old swimmer who set a new world record on Saturday in the 400-meter individual medley, has been accused of cheating. The Guardian’s Andy Bull, who on Sunday published a very interesting and insightful account of Ye’s swim and the reactions to it and her teammates (“Over the course of the 1990s [China] had... Read more »
The refs plain botched this. Chinese commentators during the game — one of whom was Yao Ming — speculated that maybe none of the three refs on the court — all of them staring at the play — could believe Serge Ibaka could actually do this — jump, bounce the ball, come down with it,... Read more »
YouTube user youluukvideo, whose profile says he/she is based in Taiwan, posted this video last week. We've seen a dog sit on the back of a bike in China, but a cat? In a hat? Turning around to look at the cameraman and thinking, we're sure, "What you looking at?"? Incredible. Much better than that dog.
