A Universal reunion
(AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Liu Hong-Liang, left, 75, son of Liu Chang-Chun, the first Chinese athlete to compete in an Olympics, a sprinter at Los Angeles in 1932, and his wife Ma Qian Ru, right, enjoy a celebration commemorating historic ties between Los Angeles and Beijing, as a prelude to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, at Universal City on Thursday.
By BETH HARRIS
Associated Press
Liu Hong-Liang was 17 days old when his father set sail from Shanghai to compete in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics as the first and only Chinese athlete.
“He had no idea where is America,” Liu said through a translator Thursday.
Liu Chang-Chun competed in the 100- and 200-meter sprints after carrying China’s flag by himself in the opening ceremonies. He did not medal in either event. It would be another 52 years until China won its first Olympic gold, when the 1984 Summer Games were in Los Angeles.
Xu Hai-Feng earned a gold in pistol shooting.
“A lot of people ask me when I was awarded gold, why wasn’t I smiling?” Xu said through a translator. “As an athlete, it’s my job and honor to do the best that I can. The other explanation was I only began practicing shooting in 1982. By the time I won gold, it all happened so fast.”
Xu accounted for one of China’s 18 golds in 1984, when the Communist country finished fourth in the medal standings.
The Chinese hope to top the medals table when they host the Summer Olympics in August in Beijing.
Liu and Xu, pictured here, were united Thursday when Beijing and Los Angeles celebrated their Olympic ties through culture and arts at Universal Studios. The “Seeking Our Olympic Dreams” event featured Chinese folk music, dancers from the Beijing Opera, a pair of contortionists that wowed the crowd, and a Chinese juggler who kept nine balls in the air at once.
The monthlong journey of Liu’s father to Los Angeles in 1932 is the subject of a movie called “The One,” which will debut in April, 100 days before the Beijing Games open on Aug. 8.
“He was very proud to attend Los Angeles,” Liu said about his father. “He had no money for the travel. At the last minute, the head of his university gave him 1,000 U.S. dollars for travel. Before he go abroad, the government gave him a flag to hold up.”
Liu is 75 and living in Beijing, but he said he will have no official role in the upcoming Olympics. His father died in 1984.
Beijing officials presented their Los Angeles counterparts with a scroll featuring 128 stamps of the five Beijing Olympic mascots. The Americans’ gift was a sculpture.