Winning formula: Athletes whose Olympic dreams started at Shichahai

Source:Global Times Published: 2012-8-9 20:00:03

Beijing Shichahai Sports School has built its reputation over the past 54 years as being the breeding ground of some of China's most dominant athletes.

Many come to the school as wide-eyed youngsters who, after years of intense training, graduate to become world champions in their sport.

Here's a look at some of the school's illustrious alumni: 

Dong Jiong
Dong Jiong

Name: Dong Jiong

Date of birth: August 20, 1973

Sport: badminton

Hometown: Beijing

Before the reign of Lin Dan, China's hero on the international badminton stage was Dong Jiong.

The Beijing native took up the sport as a 10-year-old. At the age of 14, he was representing Beijing, and by 18 he was a member of the national team.

Dong enjoyed a strong year in 1996, winning silver in the men's singles at the Atlanta Olympic Games and cementing his position as the sport's world No.1.

The following year, he won some of badminton's most prestigious titles, including the All-England and Denmark Open.

Dong is best remembered for helping China reclaim its modern day stranglehold on badminton, after years of dominance by Indonesia.

Luo Wei
Luo Wei

Name: Luo Wei

Date of birth: May 23, 1983

Sport: taekwondo

Hometown: Beijing

Arguably one of China's greatest female taekwondo practitioners, the 2004 Athens Olympic Games gold medalist in the under 67 kg class was also a former world champion having flipped, kicked and thrown her way to gold at the 2003 world championships in Germany.

Wei was cruelly denied competing in front of her home crowd at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games after a reoccurring leg injury flared up and ruled her out of competition.

Luo initially trained to be a track and field athlete at Shichahai Sports School, emerging as a promising hurdler.

She made the switch to taekwondo when she was 16, becoming world champion just five years later.

Teng Haibin
Teng Haibin

Name: Teng Haibin

Date of birth: January 2, 1985

Sport: gymnastics

Hometown: Beijing

A dual world champion and gold medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Teng was a specialist on the pommel horse and parallel bars.

He earned a place on the national team at just 13 years old, quickly cementing his reputation on the squad as one of its rising stars.

Teng instantly became a favorite with the public, who swooned to his shy demeanor and warm smiles each time he triumphed.

Unfortunately, Teng has had limited opportunity to shine in the Olympic spotlight. Plagued by injuries due partly to the intense nature of his sport, Teng has been forced to watch the Beijing and London Olympics from the sidelines.

Feng Kun
Feng Kun

Name: Feng Kun

Date of birth: December 28, 1978

Sport: volleyball

Hometown: Beijing

The 2012 London Olympic Games may witness the decline of Chinese female volleyball, yet Feng had glory back in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Known for her humor, Feng entered Shichahai in 1990 and soon became a member of the Beijing Volleyball Team.

From then on, she started to rise until she reached the top of her profession in 2004.

In 2011, Feng retired from the volleyball court and now works at a top volleyball center in Beijing.

Ding Ning
Ding Ning

Name: Ding Ning

Date of birth: June 20, 1990

Sport: table tennis

Hometown: Daqing, Heilongjiang Province

People who watched the female table tennis final between Ding Ning and Li Xiaoxia at the 2012 London Olympic Games on August 1 might still be debating the referee's choice to punish Ding's way of serving a ball.

The girl arrived in Beijing and took the entry test at Shichahai Sports School before celebrating her 10th birthday.

Ding lost all the games she played during the test, but coach Zhou Shusen saw potential in her above all the others and enrolled Ding as a student in the school.

From then on, Ding won dozens of games and finally grew up to be a mature table tennis player. 

Photos: IC

Global Times



Posted in: Olympics, Metro Beijing

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