Word: sporting
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...with the rest of the world increasingly embracing the sport, Korea's Taekwondo fighters can no longer afford to be complacent. China's Wei Luo, who swept to a convincing gold in the 2003 world championships, looks likely to beat South Korean Hwang Kyung Sun in the 67-kg women's event, while Taiwan's Chu Mu Yen and Chen Chih Hsin are both strong gold-medal contenders. "In the case of Europeans and some Asian athletes, there is no skill difference compared with us," South Korean Taekwondo coach Kim Sae Hyeock told the JoongAng Daily. "It's just...
...pace, Suetsugu and Liu are blazing a new path for Asian speedsters. For decades?even centuries?Asians have been convinced that their genes prevented them from winning high-piston track events like the sprints or hurdles. Conventional wisdom held that the limber, compact Asian body was better designed for sports that required dexterity and precision. Hence China's dominance in gymnastics and diving, Japan's killer hold in judo or South Korea's command over archery and Taekwondo. Asians sometimes performed respectably in middle- and long-distance track competitions, but there was a tendency to chalk this up to mental...
...have significantly less capacity than blacks or whites to develop fast-twitch muscle fibers, which help create speed. And what one person believes to be a physical impediment might, of course, be more of a psychological barrier. After all, the Chinese are perennial Olympic favorites in weight lifting, a sport that clearly depends on energy and power. And yet the notion that Asians can't sprint remains widespread?and both Liu and Suetsugu are determined to show that toughness of spirit can bridge the gap. "My physique is poor," says Liu. "But through extra-hard training, I can make...
...easygoing manner belies his single-minded dedication to vaulting at top speed over 10 barriers, each more than a meter high. His parents wanted him to study computer engineering or some other profession befitting his middle-class Shanghai upbringing, but Liu was intent on athletics. He entered a local sports school as a high jumper and then switched to hurdles, although some coaches thought a Chinese athlete shouldn't even bother. But Liu, who hurdled for joy rather than obligation, was hooked. "I liked the fact that so much of hurdles is about technique and that you have to approach...
...China, Liu's ascendancy?along with that of another Chinese hurdler, Shi Dongpeng, who placed fifth at the Zagreb meet?could finally help correct the nation's lackluster track record. In Sydney, China won just one track medal, and that came in the less glamorous sport of racewalking. Japan has a proud history in the marathon, but the klieg lights are far brighter in the sprinting events, and success in Athens would further electrify a nation already riding high on the exploits of exported baseballers, such as Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki, who have proved that in addition to precise...