Countdown to Rio 2016– Throwback Thursday – Beijing 2008, Zao an China

by Fi Edwards on 14 Jul 2016 Conquering adversity became the unofficial theme of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as China transformed trepidation into “glorious success” and no other sport would feel this triumph more than sailing.

The announcement of Qingdao, a port town on the Yellow Sea some 800 kilometres from Beijing, as venue for the sailing competition hadn’t been greeted with excitement. The area was known for its light and shifty winds, fog and peculiar wave patterns; far from ideal conditions for an Olympic Sailing Competition. All the odds would seem to be against the organisers but the Chinese spirit has a wonderful capacity for perseverance.

In the run up to the Games the tired town was transformed in a major redevelopment. A project which would become one of the successful legacies of Beijing 2008. The jewel in the crown, the gargantuan modern International Sailing Centre with its huge marina ringed by shops, restaurants and hotels: a spiritual home for China’s newfound sailing obsession. Qingdao had become successfully reborn as one of Asia’s premier sailing venues.

With the preparation complete and the venue open and ready adversity struck again. Just six weeks before the Games were set to begin when the annual bloom of green fuzzy algae - a strange Yellow Sea phenomenon that has left scientists puzzled - materialized. In previous years the appearance of the algae had been a non-event but 2008’s bloom would be a different story.

A total 5,000 square miles (13,000 square kilometres) or almost one-third of the competition area at the Olympic sailing venue was choked with furry, green plantlife. Again China triumphed, this time against the clock in a huge cleanup operation. A huge team of volunteers removed over one million tonnes of algae and erected giant fences around the racing areas, successfully ensuring that by the time racing got underway the algae was under control.

As the Games got under way it was now up to the Chinese sailors to deliver success on the water too. And deliver they did. First up, Laser Radial sailor Lijia Xu. The conditions in the early part of the competition had suited light wind specialist Xu. A disastrous first race due to Olympic nerves had been followed by four top five results and two top ten as the Chinese sailor quietly made her way towards the top of the board.

As the medals neared the weather shifted pace. Severe storms ravaged the racecourse, making for some extremely varied and challenging racing but Xu took it in her stride, displaying characteristic calmness and determination. Xu went into the Medal Race in third behind frontrunners Anna Tunnicliffe (USA) and Gintare Volungeviciute Scheidt (LTU) and, on the changeable waters of China’s sailing city, put in a final solid performance to seal bronze. Her performance was all the more remarkable given that Xu only has 50% of her hearing, little vision out of her left eye and had been forced to miss the Games four years earlier due to surgery to remove a tumor that was threatening her leg.

After Xu’s bronze came China’s first ever Olympic sailing gold. Chinese boardsailor Jian Yin, driven by the heartbreak of having to settle for silver by just two points after a collision in the final race of the Athens 2004 Games, took Gold in the RS:X Women. Yin had shown complete dominance over the fleet in the light wind conditions, taking four race victories and two third places. With a five-point lead over the legendary Alessandra Sensini (ITA) going into the double-points Medal Race, the veteran windsurfer exploited her knowledge of the waves to the best effect, overcoming a less than ideal start to storm through the finish line in third; Olympic gold secured to huge cheers from the breakwater. Sensini took silver and relative newcomer Bryony Shaw (GBR) completed the podium.

The locals who had embraced the sailing with considerable enthusiasm continued to react with unbridled delight as Yin’s coach boat, with Yin stood on board waving an enormous Chinese flag, came into the marina. The significance of the moment was not lost on the athlete. Standing on the top of the podium and wrapped in her national flag amid the screaming and flag waving of Chinese spectators, an emotional Yin couldn't stop her tears falling. Years of hard work, injury and the agony of missing a Gold in Athens all worth it.

The Chinese people love a story of overcoming adversity and Qingdao had given them many. Sailing had produced two very Chinese heroines on home water and given nation a new sport to fall in love with.