Many people know that the first Chinese athlete to participate in the Olympic Games is named Liu Changchun, but not many people know about his story with the Olympic Games. Taking advantage of the fact that the Olympic Games are in full swing, let's talk about this dusty past between China and the Olympic Games.
Statue of Liu Changchun
First, sprinters
Liu Changchun was born on November 25, 1909 in Fuzhou, Fengtian Province, in what is now Wafangdian in Dalian, Liaoning Province. Three years after his birth, the Qing Dynasty collapsed.
In the years when Liu Changchun grew up, China's territory was falling into warlord chaos, and the northeast region where Liu Changchun was located became the territory of the Feng warlord Zhang Zuolin. In 1921, Zhang Zuolin founded Northeastern University, and later Liu Changchun was admitted to the university's physical education department because of his excellent sprinting results.
Zhang Zuolin
In 1929, Liu Changchun broke the national records for the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter sprints at the North China Games, and the 100-meter performance even equaled the 100-meter sprint of the 1928 Olympic Games, which shocked the whole country for a while.
2. Refuse to be a traitor
At that time, there was also a famous sports player in the northeast who was on a par with Liu Changchun, named Yu Xiwei. He is the same age as Liu Changchun, Liu Changchun specializes in sprinting, and Yu Xiwei is good at middle and long-distance running. Originally, the two could shine with double stars, but in 1931, the September 18 Incident broke out and the northeast fell, and their sports careers were instantly overshadowed.
In 1932, the year after the September 18 Incident, the tenth Olympic Games were to be held in Los Angeles, when Zhang Xueliang, who had retired to Beiping, announced that the Republic of China government would send Liu Changchun and Yu Xiwei to participate in the Olympic Games. The Japanese-controlled puppet state of Manchukuo also announced that they would represent puppet Manchukuo in the Olympic Games.
At this time, Liu Changchun, who was in Shanghai, issued a statement in the Ta Kung Pao, publicly stating that he was a descendant of Yan huang and would never represent the puppet state of Manchukuo in the Olympic Games. When the news came out, General Zhang Xueliang, the former president of Northeastern University, immediately made a decision and donated 8,000 silver dollars to support Liu Changchun to go to Los Angeles to compete. Zhang Boling, then president of Nankai University and chairman of the All-China Sports Association, completed the registration procedures for Liu Changchun.
Newspapers praised Liu Changchun for not being a puppet
Yu Xiwei, who was in the northeast at the time, was also unwilling to represent the puppet manchukuo, and the Japanese naturally would not let him go to Los Angeles with Liu Changchun, of course, they lost this opportunity.
3. The Olympic tour
On July 8, 1932, Liu Changchun took a cruise ship to the United States in Shanghai. After 21 days at sea, he arrived in Los Angeles on July 29.
The long-distance trip had two serious effects on Liu Changchun's athletic performance, one was that his physical strength was seriously reduced and he could not recover in a short period of time. Second, there was no normal training for nearly a month, and Liu Changchun's technical level could not be restored. However, the sprint race will be held two days after he disembarked, and Liu Changchun is definitely not in the state at this time.
Liu Changchun on the field
Sure enough, in the 100-meter preliminary round on July 31, Liu Changchun was fifth in the group and was eliminated miserably. In his diary, he attributed the poor performance to the boat car. In the 200-meter run after that, Liu Changchun was also eliminated in the preliminary round. In the 400-meter race, Liu Changchun was physically weak and had to abstain.
On his first Trip to the Olympics, Liu Changchun returned home like this. However, because of Liu Changchun, the modern Olympic Games finally have the figure of Chinese, which is of great significance. After returning to China, he was also warmly welcomed by his countrymen.
Zhang Xueliang (middle)
Four years later, the Berlin Olympics were held in Nazi shadow, and China sent 69 athletes, including Liu Changchun. They spent more time at sea than the first time, up to 27 days.
At the Olympic Games, only Fu Baolu, a pole vaulter from Jilin, made it to the final, and 68 other athletes, including Liu Changchun, stopped in the preliminaries. Since then, Liu Changchun has no fate with the Olympic Games.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Liu Changchun taught at Dalian Institute of Technology (later Dalian University of Technology) until his death in 1983 at the age of 74.
It is worth mentioning that in the second year of Liu Changchun's death, New China sent a delegation to participate in the Olympic Games for the first time. Coincidentally, the Olympic Games were also held in Los Angeles, USA, where history seemed to have undergone a fateful cycle.
However, the difference is that Chinese shooting player Xu Haifeng won the first Olympic gold medal for China at this Olympic Games, and the Chinese delegation performed well, winning a total of 15 gold, 8 silver and 9 bronze good results, and the first Olympic trip of New China won the fourth place in the medal table.
Xu Haifeng won the gold medal at the Olympics
Sports achievements symbolize the national fortune, look at the year, think about today, a lot of feelings.