In the early morning of July 8, 1932, at the Xinguan Wharf in Shanghai, a young man carrying a suitcase waved goodbye to the people on the wharf.
Behind him, seagulls flew by, and the Wilson cruise ship roared before leaving.
The crowd grew smaller and smaller in his eyes, only the flag that was raised high seemed to be supporting, the road ahead was long, and the king was precious.
The Ta Kung Pao once wrote:
I am a Chinese athlete, this single knife to the meeting, thousands of miles off the mountain, at this moment the national fortune is difficult, I hope that the king will bravely move forward, so that my descendants will be far away from such suffering.
It's the young man in front of you.
The first athlete to represent China in the Olympics was Liu Changchun.
Figure 1 Liu Changchun
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > heroes are not born</h1>
Liu Changchun was born in 1909 in Hekou Village, Xiaoping Island, Dalian.
Surrounded by mountains, it has always been in a state of traffic congestion and economic and educational backwardness.
The slightly older men in the village have chosen to work outside to subsidize their families.
Therefore, in the process of Liu Changchun's growth, he rarely saw his father who made shoes outside and has been living with his mother.
Usually, in addition to helping his mother take care of the fields, Liu Changchun and his friends played wildly in the fields, and the steep rocks and meandering streams became his initial enlightenment teachers.
This good physique tempered by yamano also laid a good foundation for him to become a track and field athlete.
He could have grown up so carefree.
But the heavens will send down a great task to the Scythians, and they will first suffer their hearts and minds, and work their bones.
Figure 2 Spring Sports Day
When Liu Changchun was ten years old, his mother died, and although his father took him to his side, he did not have the energy to discipline his son.
In 1923, he sent Liu Changchun to shahekou public school to study.
Shahekou Public School was founded in 1921, when Dalian was a Japanese colony.
Japan has extensively expanded its ports on this land, boosted the economy, and then developed education, and its wolf ambitions.
Let's talk about it later, and first turn our eyes back to Liu Changchun.
Shahekou Public School is more than ten kilometers away from Liu Changchun's home, and Liu Changchun has to run to and from home and school every day.
Over time, his speed became faster and faster, and his body became stronger and stronger.
Although the height is not very long, it stops at one meter six seven.
But as the saying goes, what is condensed is the essence, and those who look down on him will be punched in the face.
Figure 3 Participation in domestic competitions
No, a year after the start of school, he represented Shahekou Public School in the primary and secondary school sports meeting.
In the 400-meter field of the athletics competition, Liu Changchun, who was in the primary school group, was far ahead, and the shadows of the students behind him could not be seen.
He ran a score of fifty-nine seconds, breaking the records of the elementary and junior high school groups in a row.
Because Liu Changchun's calf muscles exploded significantly when he ran, his classmates gave him a very vivid nickname, called "rabbit legs".
Genius is not terrible, what is terrible is that a person is not only talented, but also hardworking.
Liu Changchun is such a talented and hard-working person, he did not have the right coach to teach, so he went to the track and field field every day to train.
In 1927, he was seen by the captain of the Northeastern University football team who came to Dalian to play.
Figure 4 Liu Changchun's family
After learning that the young man in front of him was the famous "rabbit leg" in Dalian, the captain asked him if he wanted to be an athlete.
Liu Changchun nodded fiercely, and just like that, the captain introduced him to Zhang Xueliang's younger brother Zhang Xueming.
As a result, he was able to enter the preparatory class of Northeastern University.
Regarding Liu Changchun's talent, it is like a thousand-mile horse that can travel thousands of miles a day.
But Maxima has talent, and it must also have Bole's wisdom to see the pearl, otherwise it is like a pearl covered in dust.
When we mention Liu Changchun's nobleman, we have to mention a person.
This person is not the captain of the football team, nor Zhang Xueming, but the famous general, Zhang Xueliang.
With regard to General Zhang Xueliang, our impression may be stuck in the September 18 Incident, when he carried out Chiang Kai-shek's demand not to resist, which caused the northeast to fall.
Figure 5 Zhang Xueliang
But what we want to talk about today is General Zhang Xueliang's little-known but very advanced idea, "sports save the country."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="9" > the idea of "sports saving the country"</h1>
In 1928, Zhang Xueliang took charge of the three eastern provinces, and the northeast was changed, and he declared his obedience to the National Government in Nanjing.
After taking over the political power in all aspects, Zhang Xueliang realized that this was an opportunity to carry forward his ideas over the years, which was sports to save the country.
This idea is divided into three points.
The first point is that "five educations are equally important and sports are paid attention to.".
The second point is to "resist foreign humiliation and rejuvenate the nation."
The third point is that "sports enter society".
Zhang Xueliang's action ability is super strong, he will do what he says, and he began to engage in sports.
He first invested 250,000 silver dollars to build a stadium that could accommodate 30,000 people.
Figure 6 Zhang Xueliang receives athletes
At the same time, it also ordered the establishment of a physical education specialty in the School of Education of Northeastern University, and invited many outstanding teachers.
The preparations for the North China Games, which had been abandoned for many years, were successfully opened on May 29, 1929.
On the field, Zhang Xueliang noticed Liu Changchun for the first time.
The dazzling teenager won the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters in succession.
According to the Ta Kung Pao records at that time, he ran 100 meters to 10 seconds and 8 seconds, directly creating a national 100 meters men's record.
In October of the same year, Zhang Xueliang organized a Sino-Japanese-German athletics competition.
Liu Changchun defeated two Japanese athletes and a German sprinter respectively, losing to Germany's famous Bill by a very small margin.
The victory of several consecutive games made Zhang Xueliang secretly determined to cultivate Liu Changchun well.
Figure 7 Liu Changchun at the North China Games
He spent a lot of money to hire a foreign coach named Buqi for Liu Changchun, and he brought a swing sprint method.
Changed Liu Changchun's step-by-step method, allowing his strength to further increase.
In addition to foreign coaches, Zhang Xueliang also allocated Liu Changchun thirty-six oceans of salary every month.
At the time, this was a huge sum of money.
Liu Changchun, who received professional guidance, made rapid progress.
He is already good at running, and this is even more powerful.
He practiced in retreat for a while, only to shine in the competition.
At the 1930 Hangzhou National Games, the teenager who washed away the lead once again won the championship of three running.
This video is the only documentary film left in Liu Changchun's sports career.
We can see from this video that the young man who was full of momentum and spirit was full of vigor.
Figure 8 Zhang Xueliang and Liu Changchun
At that time, Liu Changchun could be described as a national idol.
He could never have imagined that in just two years, he would change from an athlete admired by everyone to a "traitor" and "traitor" that everyone scolded.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="14" > "traitor" Liu Changchun</h1>
It all started in 1931, when the world was experiencing an economic crisis.
In order to defuse the crisis, Japan has put its mind on China.
He wanted to support Puyi, the deposed emperor of the Qing Dynasty, to establish a state, and he sought interests behind the scenes.
To this end, they launched the September 18 Incident, and because the superiors issued a policy of non-resistance to Zhang Xueliang, the northeast soon fell into artillery fire.
On March 1, 1932, Puyi built the capital in New Beijing, which was for Manchukuo.
Of course, a country is not established by saying that it is established, it needs to be recognized by the international community.
Figure 9 Puyi
In order to more rationalize the occupation of China, they heard that the Chinese government had rejected the invitation to the Los Angeles Olympics.
He wanted to take this opportunity to send athletes to participate in the Olympic Games in the name of Manchukuo, so as to gain the recognition of international powers.
The Japanese did not know much about Chinese sports, so they asked the surrendered traitors who could compete in the games.
The traitor recommended Liu Changchun and Yu Xiwei.
During that time, Northeastern University was going to move its campus and let all the students go home to rest.
The traitors found Liu Changchun and tried to lure him to the competition.
Liu Changchun first found a reason to let them go first, and then he made up enough money for the road that night and ran to Beiping.
The Japanese who were put together were ashamed and angry.
Figure 10 Newspapers of the time
They published a circular directly in the Japanese-controlled Taidong Daily, claiming that Liu Changchun and Yu Xiwei were about to represent the puppet state of Manchukuo in the Olympics.
As soon as this report came out, many people went to understand what the Olympics were.
After learning that Liu Changchun's representation of Manchukuo was a betrayal of China, a public opinion broke out.
But no one went to listen to Liu Changchun's explanation.
The masses, blinded by lies, threw rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs in the house where he lived.
Using the pressure of public opinion to force Liu Changchun to defect to Japan is what the Japanese want to achieve.
But Liu Changchun was not as good as the Japanese wanted, and he publicly rebuked it in the Ta Kung Pao and Sports Weekly:
Conscience is still there! Blood is still flowing! How can you commit treason! Narcissus Cow!
Watching this matter ferment more and more.
Figure 11 Liu Changchun's self-description
Hao Gengsheng, director of the Northeast Sports University, simply united with his friends in sports and once again proposed to the relevant leaders to send athletes to participate in the Olympic Games.
The leader agreed to agree, and they had only one request:
It's okay to go, but ask them to pay for it, without talking.
Without money, there is no way to travel to the United States.
Fortunately, at this time, Zhang Xueliang took out eight thousand oceans to fund Liu Changchun.
It was announced on July 1 that Liu Changchun and Yu Xiwei would be sent to represent China in the Olympic Games.
Liu Changchun threw himself into intense training.
Seeing that the opening day of the Olympic Games was approaching day by day, he and his coach Song Junfu went to Shanghai together.
Here he could not see Yu Xiwei's figure.
Figure 12 Liu Changchun takes the national flag from Wang Zhengting
As soon as they inquired, they learned that after the Japanese heard this report, adhering to the principle that I don't feel bad and you don't want to be well, they immediately sent someone to put Yu Xiwei under house arrest.
He couldn't come to Shanghai, the Olympic War without gun smoke, only Liu Changchun forged ahead.
Under such a lot of pressure, can Liu Changchun hold out?
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="22" > one-man Olympics</h1>
On July 8, Liu Changchun and Song Junfu boarded the Wilson cruise ship from Shanghai to the United States.
The suitcase he was holding in his hand was given by Zhang Xueliang.
This suitcase, which witnessed liu Changchun's pouring for most of his life, is now in the collection of dalian museums.
At that time, the cruise ship was particularly slow, from Shanghai to Los Angeles, which was a twenty-one-day voyage.
During the voyage, Liu Changchun was very seasick.
Figure 13 The Chinese delegation to the Los Angeles Olympics appears
But even though he was so unwell, he still went to the deck every day to exercise.
There are a lot of entertainment activities on board, such as watching movies and dancing or something.
The waiter also came to invite Liu Changchun at first, but after getting N times of rejection, he did not bother again.
A lot has happened on this journey.
One of the most noteworthy is that the cruise ship has a brief stop in Japan.
At that time, a large number of Japanese reporters rushed to the deck to interview Liu Changchun.
They asked Liu Changchun what he thought of representing Manchukuo.
Liu Changchun loudly refuted the reporter, saying that I am Chinese, of course, representing China.
When the news reached China, those who had insulted Liu Changchun bowed their faces in shame.
On July 29, the ship finally docked.
Liu Changchun and Song Junfu were warmly received by the local Chinese.
Figure 14 Overseas Chinese welcome
With only one day left before the los Angeles Olympics opened, he packed up a little and headed to the Olympic Village.
The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games was held as scheduled.
The Chinese delegation entered the eighth place, which was the first time that the Chinese delegation appeared at the Olympic Games.
The guide at the forefront was the American.
Liu Changchun held high the national flag and walked in the center, and standing behind him was Shen Siliang, the representative of China.
The other four are Song Junfu, a Chinese student in the United States, and an international student.
They were the smallest representative team present, but they stepped out of the aura of thousands of troops.
But this is after all the first time that China has participated in the Olympic Games, and we have no experience.
Twenty-one days of sailing had already consumed all of Liu Changchun's physical strength.
Figure 15 Liu Changchun and Yu Xiwei
Coupled with the time difference between China and the United States, it is reasonable to say that Liu Changchun wants to take his best form to participate in the competition, and must rest for a while.
Adapt your body to the environment.
But at this time, the game was imminent, and he could only play hard.
The first to be held was the men's 100-meter preliminaries, and Liu Changchun wore a white shirt and black shorts, which was very eye-catching among the warm-up athletes.
The whistle sounded, and Liu Changchun ran with all his might.
But halfway through, he gasped for breath, his hands and feet tingled, his speed slowed down significantly, and he ran to the last place and missed the final.
By this time, his legs had begun to swell and become very painful.
Liu Changchun endured and continued to play.
Figure 16 Liu Changchun in the movie "One Man Olympic"
The second race, the men's 200m preliminary round.
He ran as hard as he could for twenty-two seconds, but by one place, he missed the final again.
Before the start of the third game of 400 meters, Liu Changchun's legs were already very swollen.
He had no choice but to give up four hundred meters.
Did not achieve the ranking in the competition, Liu Changchun's heart is regretful.
But at the same time he believes that in the next Olympic Games, he can definitely do better.
In the following days without competition, Liu Changchun was invited to participate in various social gatherings of overseas Chinese organizations in the United States.
Describe to them the current situation in China, which is in the midst of war, and the atrocities committed by the Japanese in China.
In addition, he also went to the field to observe the athletics competition and accumulate the experience of others.
He wanted to sprint to the gold medal in the next time.
Figure 17 During the game
It's just that it backfired.
The second half of Liu Changchun's life was turbulent and displaced.
When China won the Olympic gold medal for the first time, it was a year after his death.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="30" > a turbulent half-life</h1>
On August 21, 1932, Liu Changchun returned to China with the financial support of overseas Chinese.
Four years later, he went to the Olympics again, this time representing China with more than a hundred people.
But their results were not ideal.
In 1937, Liu Changchun's thigh was strained again and he was forced to end his sports career.
In the same year, the July 7 Incident.
Chinese united to resist Japan, and Liu Changchun quietly disappeared into the torrent of history.
The status of an athlete did not improve his family situation, and he had to put away the pride of the athlete and start working.
Figure 18 Heroic posture on the field
No one paid attention to the hard-working man, the first athlete in China to participate in the Olympic Games.
Later, the family moved to Changsha.
But a fire wiped out all his papers, leaving no thoughts behind.
His life only improved after the founding of New China.
In 1949, Liu Changchun was taken back to Changchun, Northeast China, and became a physical education teacher at Northeast Normal University.
At this time, he was already the father of five children.
Due to the shortage of beds, the family can only nestle in a small guest house.
Later, Liu Changchun returned to Dalian and worked as a teacher in the physical education department of Dalian Polytechnic Institute, getting up early every day and greedily.
Many times it is not even possible to give children to attend parent-teacher conferences.
Figure 19 Liu Changchun and Malaysian athletes
Under his tutelage, the track and field team achieved very good results.
We can say that he was a good teacher, but we cannot say that he was a very good father.
As time slowly passed, Liu Changchun was also slowly getting older.
Figure 20 Liu Changchun and Liu Jingren
Many years later, when he heard that the National Games were going to open in Changsha, he couldn't bear the loneliness and came to Changsha by train.
He bought tickets and watched the game carefully, but did not say a word after the game.
He was very disappointed in the National Games.
After returning home, Liu Changchun called his friend to get drunk for three days.
After waking up, he made a decision to continue to cultivate sports talents for the country.
At that time, he was already very old.
But still run the track and field every day, hand-in-hand teaching.
Later, when I couldn't walk, I bought a small bench and sat for a day.
He realized that he would one day leave.
But with this experience, Liu Changchun did not want to take it to the grave, so in 1980, he applied to the school to write a book.
Figure 21 Liu Changchun memorial statue
This matter has been questioned by many people.
Because Liu Changchun's education level is not high, people can't help but have questions in their hearts, can he write well?
In addition to writing books, Liu Changchun also had a wish, that is, to join the party.
When he submitted his application, a leader in Dalian thought the old man was just joking and put it aside.
At the end of 1982, Liu Changchun's manuscript was completed.
He handed the manuscript to the publisher, only to learn that a graduate student in the Northern Body was writing about the book, and the family was younger.
Another important point is that the man's wife works at the People's Sports Publishing House.
For various reasons, Liu Changchun's book could not be published.
He wrote to report it and did not receive any response.
Figure 22 Photo of Liu Changchun in his later years
In 1983, Liu Changchun was hospitalized due to ill health and died on March 25.
He died on December 31, 2012 at the age of 74.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="37" > follow-up</h1>
A year after Liu's death, China won a gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics.
Four years after Liu Lao's death, his book was considered better than that written by graduate students and was published.
Those things that Liu lao thought about day and night are gradually becoming a reality.
China successfully hosted the Olympic Games in 2008.
At the Tokyo Olympic Games some time ago, Su Bingtian became the first Asian to stand in the 100-meter final.
He ran nine seconds nine eights and made track and field history.
Liu Xiang's hurdles score has not been broken so far.
Figure 23 The Chinese delegation to the Tokyo Olympics appears
More and more sports talents have emerged in China, confirming that sentence with facts:
Veterans do not die, and the torch is passed on.
In 1932, it was Liu Changchun who let the world see China.
But today, when China's national flag flies on the Olympic field, when China's national anthem is played again and again.
It is we who let the world know that this sports power, it is called China!