Chinese authorities appear to have censored a document showing plans to spend more than US$6.6 million this year on training for two US-born winter sport athletes, including double Olympic gold medalist Eileen Gu.
Freestyle skier Gu and figure skater Beverly Zhu were both born and raised in the US, but switched allegiance to China. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Gu’s medal success — she won two golds and a silver — made her a national hero, while Zhu’s blunder-filled performance led to online criticism.
A document published last week by the Beijing City Government designated 48.14 million yuan (US$6.64 million) of funds for training ahead of next year’s Milan Cortina Games for the two athletes, according to reports from a monitoring organization and local media.
Photo: AFP
The document was still available on the Beijing government Web site as of yesterday morning, but mention of the two athletes was gone.
A report covering the document by independent Chinese financial magazine Caixin was also taken down, and the news has been removed from other sites, too, news and censorship monitor China Digital Times (CDT) said.
The US$6.64 million was designated as “assurance expenditure for the competition training of talented athletes,” a screenshot of the government document published by CDT showed.
“Gu and Zhu will continue to represent Beijing at their respective competitions,” the document said.
In the past few years, China has naturalized foreign-born athletes to boost national squads, notably in soccer and ice hockey.
Although common in other countries, the recruitment of foreign players is unusual in China where there is minimal inward migration and citizens are banned from holding dual nationality.
Gu’s citizenship status has been the subject of intense scrutiny. She has repeatedly dodged questions about whether she has relinquished her US passport for a Chinese one.
Luka Doncic on Monday scored 36 points as the in-form Los Angeles Lakers powered to their sixth straight victory with a 100-92 defeat of the Houston Rockets. A crucial showdown between the third and fourth-ranked NBA Western Conference teams ended with the Lakers pulling away in the final minute of the fourth quarter to claim an impressive win on the road. The victory gives the Lakers (43-25) a valuable cushion over the Rockets (41-26) as they jostle for post-season positions in the West. Doncic was once again instrumental in dragging the Lakers over the line while a hard-nosed defensive effort
‘THAT’S US’: Before each WBC game, Venezuelan players gather around a drum in the dugout for the tambor, coastal Afro-Venezuelan music and dance Venezuelan players on Monday night danced in the dugout before the first pitch, then pranced past Italy and into their nation’s first World Baseball Classic (WBC) final. Ronald Acuna Jr, Maikel Garcia and Luis Arraez hit run-scoring, two-out singles in a rapid seventh-inning rally that sparked a 4-2 victory and vaulted Venezuela into a title matchup against the US. Players celebrated in the clubhouse before quickly turning focus to the final. “A lot of dancing,” Garcia said. “We have to show the world who Venezuela is.” Before each WBC game, Venezuelan players gather around a drum in the dugout for
Japan’s national baseball team manager Hirokazu Ibata has said he would step down following Japan’s 8-5 loss to Venezuela in Miami in the quarter-finals of the World Baseball Classic. The newspaper Sports Hochi reported Ibata saying it was his “intention to resign.” Japan are the defending champions and had won the event three times. It marked Japan’s first failure to reach the WBC semi-finals despite a team stacked with MLB talent including Shohei Ohtani. “The result is everything,” Sports Hochi reported Ibata as saying. “Although we lost this time, I hope Japan will grow stronger and win next time.” Japan
Retired NBA big man LaMarcus Aldridge, a seven-time All-Star, is to visit Taiwan early next month for the first time to promote an NBA event, the league’s Taiwan Web site said on Monday. During his visit, Aldridge would meet fans on April 4 and 5 at Banciao Stadium in New Taipei City during the Rising Stars Invitational Taiwan Regional Qualifiers, NBA Taiwan wrote on Facebook. Tickets became available on FamiTicket on Monday at noon and can be reserved until 11:59pm on March 31, with a maximum purchase of two tickets per person, it said. The tickets are divided into three
RSS