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Posts from the ‘Track and Field’ Category

Jul 11

Liu Xiang Wins the Asian Champs

Liu Xiang Wins 110 Hurdles at Asian Champs

Liu returned to hurdles in 2009 at Shanghai Grand Prix and won gold at the Asian Games in Guangzhou last November. He won at the Shanghai Diamond League this spring by clocking 13.07 over David Oliver in May, and the American took revenge at Liu in Eugene, Oregon a month later in 12.94 seconds.

Liu changed his starting strategy by cutting eight to seven steps in running to the first hurdle earlier this year. He is to compete in 2011 World Championships in Athletics next month in Daegu, South Korea.

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Dec 8

If You Build it, They Won’t Come

An op-ed on how despite the rise in sporting venues throughout China, the country's sports stadiums remain empty once the lights fade and the games conclude.

There is no question that large, global sporting events can help change the image of a city. Governments use the spectacles as a means to redevelop or invest further in a city’s infrastructure. South Africa proposed a nine billion rand — or about 1.7 billion USD — budget on city infrastructure projects for next year’s World Cup. According to the Beijing Organizing Committee, the 2008 Olympic Games saw about 60 billion USD invested in city-wide infrastructure projects, which included new stadium venues for the sporting events.

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Mar 3

Li Ning Signs 5-year Deal with Yelena Isinbayeva

Chinese sportswear manufacturer Li Ning on Monday signed a 5-year sponsorship deal with Yelena Isinbayeva, two-time Olympic pole vault gold medalist and world record holder. The lucrative deal is reportedly worth $ 1.5 million USD annually, the best endorsement offer a company ever made on the track circuit.

Yelena Isinbayeva set a new pole vault world record of 5.05 meters at the Beijing Olympic Games, and the 26-year-old told press earlier that she wanted to clear 5.20 meters by the end of her career. Yelena started Pole Vault with Evgenii Vasilievich Trofimov in 1997 and ended in November 2005. She's now coached by Vitalii Afanasievich Petrov.

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