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Undying Love for Sports

By Wang Kaibo ("Sound of Sports" chorus team)
Updated: 2006-07-16 08:07

On July 16, many beautifully dressed seniors performed on a temporary stage in front of a butterfly-shaped glass hall at Bejing Shijingshan International Sculpture Park. Their colorful program included solo performances and male and female choruses, but the most interesting thing about the program was that all of the songs pertained to sports.

The singers were members of the "Sound of Sports" chorus team from the State Sport General Administration, charged with expressing China's great enthusiasm for the Olympic Games. They sang "Olympic Winds" and "One World, One Dream" at the 4th Beijing 2008 Olympic Culture Festival, and they even invited the counselor of the Embassy of the Hellenic Republic, Ms. Elena, to teach them to sing the "Olympic Hymn," an anthem proclaiming that "the Olympic flag will be radiant forever," in Greek. .

The"Sound of Sports" chorus team, which is composed of senior athletes, senior coaches and senior sports workers, was founded in September 2000 by its members. Leading the team is Mr. Gao Wei, a top-notch conductor known best for conducting the famous musical and dance epic "Dong Fang Hong."

The "Sound of Sports" has taken part in a number of high-profile events, including: the Communist Party's 80th anniversary vocal recital held by the State Organs Work Committee of the CPC; "Come to the New Era," a public vocal recital held by ten states' organs; the 3rd "Xi Yang Hong" TV chorus competition for elders; the first "2004 Beijing Concert"; and the "Voice of Beijing Chorus Concert" in 2003 and 2004. In addition, the group received second place in the "Remember the History" vocal recital competition, and performed in the Great People's Hall in 2005.

Dubbed an "outstanding chorus" by the Chinese Musicians Association Chorus League, the team has improved greatly since its founding.

Many of the members of "Sound of Sports" are famous former athletes-Qiu Zhonghui was a former pingpong world champion, and Gan Yanlong and Guo Xin'e were world record holders. Moreover, the team has many pioneers of Chinese sport: Wang Zishu and Xu Aimin were members of the women's national volleyball team and were trained by the "Sternest Coach" - Da Song, Lan Yalan, Qian Kui and Wu Shude were coaches of the world champions Fan Di and Lu Li, (they were also representatives of the first generation of Chinese gymnasts and sent to the Soviet Union to study); Zhou Zheng, Weng Qingzhang and Jiang Ying were leaders in Chinese mountaineering. The band also includes Tian Zhaozhong, who coached the famous triple jump athlete Zou Zhenxian.

Overall, the team includes many superiors, scientific researchers and senior journalists who have led China in the Olympic and Asian Games and made great contributions to our country.

Throughout their lives, the members of "Sound of Sports" have contributed their youth and enthusiasm to Chinese athletics. Nowadays, though their hair has turned silver and wrinkles lie thick across their foreheads, their hearts are still pulsing with the energy of Chinese sports. They are both happy and proud that Beijing has won the bid for the Olympic Games and, in turn, we cheer the Chinese athletes for their splendid achievements. They use their stirring lyrics to express their profound emotions for sports, and they use their melodies to praise Chinese athletes, to boost Olympic spirits, and to wish Chinese sports the best of luck.