Behind the Olympics: Rising stars to follow

by Jerry Guo on

Michael Phelps. Tyson Gay. Shawn Johnson. These Olympians have become household names, and they’re getting their share of the airtime, no doubt about that.

But there’s a whole cast of characters with equally captivating narratives that unfortunately have been dwarfed in their shadows.

  • In wrestling, there’s Laura Flessel-Colovic of France, who’s perhaps better known by her nickname, “the wasp.” The 36-year-old gave birth in 2001 but is still going strong, winning gold last year at the European Championships. This is probably her last Olympics, so she’s looking to go out strong.

  • In tennis, there’s Sania Mirza of India, who is known for her looks, country of origin (India is not a tennis powerhouse to say the least), if not her backhand and serve. She’s India’s best tennis player in history, by far, and is an absolute sports legend in that country. She was recently voted one of the top 10 most attractive tennis stars in an international survey. Her Chinese counterpart, by the way, is Li Na, the first from China to break the top 20 in the players’ rankings.
  • In boxing, there’s Manus Boonjumnong of Thailand, who achieved notoriety by beating world champion Willy Blain to win gold at Athens in the light welterweight (64 kg) class. He’s got quite a colorful history as a wild partier (cashing in his $600,000 Athens win on football bets and booze). But maybe he’s turned a corner, seeing as he spent some serious time in a monastery.
  • In table tennis, there’s Wang Hao of China, who is the equivalent of Yao Ming, just in a slightly less popular sport in the West (ping pong). He’s the number one player in the world, but who suffered an all-around embarassing defeat to South Korea in the finals during Athens. No doubt “Hurricane Hao,” as fans like to boast, is gearing up for a rematch.
  • In yachting, there’s Ben Ainslie of Great Britain, who’s looking at his third consecutive gold in the Olympics. Enough said, right? His country is pinning their highest hopes for an Olympic gold on Ainslie, who rumors has it insists on Chinese food before each race.

China busing in government-trained “cheer squads” to fill empty seats at Olympics

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Just like the Oscars have “seat-fillers” to hide the empty seats when people go to the bathroom, the Chinese are busing in state-trained “cheer squads” to fill the surprising numbers of empty seats at the Olympics.

Dressed in identical bright yellow t-shirts, the cheer squads are meant to improve the Olympic atmosphere and avoid embarrassing television shots of all the no-shows at the Games. As the Washington Post notes, “The U.S. softball team played in a stadium only about 30 percent full on Tuesday, while the day before, 10 of 18 venues did not reach 80 percent capacity.”

Officials blame the poor crowds on everything from the weather to strict visa regulations to spectators not wanting to watch the less exciting sports.

Beijing hotel owners, who were expected to be some of the biggest beneficiaries of the 2008 Olympics, have been underwhelmed by the amount of business the Games have brought. From the Washington Post: “‘Business is worse than at this time last year,’ said a receptionist at a 22-room hotel in Beijing’s Chongwen district, where rooms cost $28 a night. ‘It’s the season for traveling and last year the hotel was full. The Olympics should have brought business to Beijing, but the reality is too far from the expectation.'”

Pursuing the American Dream in China

by Jamie Rhein on

Because the Olympics are in China, you’ve probably noticed an increase of stories and news segments with a China focus occupying the airways. For example, The Today Show on NBC is looking at China from a variety of angles.

One story, presented Monday, illustrated just how fluid the world’s economy can be and how there is an interchange between cultures as a result. For example, if you head to China, you can find an Auntie Anne’s, an American franchise that specializes in soft pretzels.

The Auntie Anne’s in Beijing was started by a Chinese American couple whose parents had immigrated to the United States as a way to make a better life for themselves and their children. This couple moved to China to open China’s first Auntie Ann’s after researching what would work in China and realizing that the enterprise was a way to seize a profitable opportunity. They discovered that one way to make money in another country is to export a popular, established brand.

As the segment illustrated, some Chinese Americans are returning to China as a way to make a better life for themselves. One motivation, in addition to making money, is to learn Chinese and also to learn more about the culture of their heritage-something they often pooh-poohed as they were growing up.

As the segment noted, most plan to return to the United States once the money has been made. It’s not that they have an issue with life in the U.S., they are going after financial opportunity in the country where their parents were born.

If you look at the history of the Silk Road, and how goods and services moved from Asia to Europe and from Europe to China centuries ago, the pattern in similar. Now, though, soft pretzels are part of the scenery.

Behind the Olympics: Sports you’ll regret you missed

by Jerry Guo on

With the Beijing Olympics in full swing, you’re probably getting more than your daily suggested dose of swimming (how about that from-behind finish in men’s 4×100 relay, eh?), gymnastics (bummer to that girl who twisted her ankle minutes before her event), basketball (China got schooled two days in a row), and beach volleyball (playing with the lenses out of your sunglasses is apparently the new fashion).

Yet if you’re just sticking to what NBC (or BBC or CBC) is feeding you, then you’re missing out on a whole lotta of the Games. To start, there’s 35 sports encompassing 53 disciplines (swimming and water polo are in the same sport, “aquatics”, but considered different disciplines) and some 400 events in these two weeks. Of course, I won’t try to argue that some of them are particularly exciting–handball anyone?

There are, however, several sports that make some pretty good watching–and will make you that mysterious sports connoisseur at the water cooler. My favorites:

  • Water polo–there’s some intense competition boiling over in this sport, culminating in the US’s domination over China this past weekend, 8-4. And right now, I’m watching a rerun of the women’s match between the US and China (keep in mind the US is the reigning world champ and this is the first year China has sport an Olympic team). Won’t ruin the down-to-the-wire finish, but you can find out the results here.
  • Boxing–some of the best match-ups around can be found here in Beijing. Alas, the Americans aren’t doing as well as they hoped, with two boxers already out after the first round. There are six more still in contention, though the most-anticipated boxer in these Games is the Russian middleweight Matvei Korobov
  • Rowing–my favorite sport in what has been traditionally the least exciting spectator sport (even my fellow rowers agree) is a must-watch this time around. The Americans in the men’s eight are the defending champs, but with the Chinese pouring money into their new program, and Germany, Canada, and Britain close on their heels, this race is completely up in the air.
  • Table tennis–OK, so ping pong is actually one of the most popular sports in the world, with at least 40 million regular players. But I can guarantee you won’t find it on NBC prime-time, namely because Americans, well, suck at it. But if you’re looking to see the real version of that Forrest Gump shot where the balls fly at 70-80-90 mph, this is it.

Visa Wins Big at Olympics

by Josh Lew on

Visa wanted to use the Olympics to get its foot firmly in the door in Beijing. The results are good so far. The credit card giant has been almost as dominant as the US men’s basketball squad.

Visa started preparations well before The Games. They helped over 200,000 merchants become Visa-ready and installed nearly 90,000 ATMs country-wide.

So who is plopping down the plastic in China’s largely cash-based society? Americans, who else? Visa claims that nearly 20% of the revenue on the first day of the Olympics came from consumers from the US. Japanese were the second largest group of users, accounting for 13% of the day one total.

Visa is using the Olympics to get itself in good position for the future in China. But is China benefiting from the wider use of plastic? Small and medium-sized retail businesses are probably seeing immediate results with the souvenir-happy tourists who have descended on Beijing. Visa claimed that there were $10 million worth of sales on day one alone. That’s $10 million dollars into the local economy.

Talk about laughing all the way to the bank. China won’t be laughing in the future when it finds that domestic credit card debt is on the rise, but for now, unlike the Olympic events themselves, in the credit card game, everyone is a winner.

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