------Program code: CC-080330-00942 (what's this?)

Source: CCTV.com

03-30-2008 12:06

In this special programme, we’ll be reflecting on the Olympics, with the help of some great Chinese sports people. First, we’ll hear the remarkable story of China’s first woman weightlifting gold medallist; after that, we’ll have a tale of love set in the table-tennis arena; then we’ll meet a key player in the Chinese women’s football team, who talks frankly about the disappointments she has experienced in the past few years; and finally, we’ll hear from a famous Chinese Olympian – the man who had the honour of carrying the national flag at the opening ceremony of two Olympics.

For a little girl growing up in an ethnic Tujia family among the remote mountains of Hunan Province, winning an Olympic gold medal must have seemed like an impossible dream. But Yang Xia not only won Olympic gold; she did so in an event that had traditionally been the preserve of men.

Table-tennis first became an official Olympic event at the 1988 Seoul Games. For two of China’s leading table-tennis players, those Olympics would be a bitter-sweet experience.