Liu Changchun (; listed in official Olympic records as "Liu, Cheng-Chun";''The Games of the Xth Olympiad, Los Angeles, 1932: Official Report'', The Xth Olympiade Committee of the Games of Los Angeles, U.S.A. 1932 Ltd., 1933.
http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1932/1932s.pdf
, retrieved on 2008-08-18 November 25, 1909"The first Chinese to step into the Olympic arena—Liu Changchun", ,

Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (; IOC code: TPE) is the National Olympic Committee representing the Republic of China (Taiwan). History The China National Amateur Athletic Federation () was established on 3 April 1922. Later that year, the ...

http://www.tpenoc.net/
, publication and copyright dates unknown.
http://association.cadsm.org.tw/Quotation/TPENOCv2/changes/changes_03.asp?struct_id=26&struct_ide=4637&cu_no=3&file=/LTD/sample/spo_sample/Sample_03.asp
, retrieved on 2008-08-19"The avant-garde of Chinese physical education—Liu Changchun", , Dialian University of Technology, 2003.

, retrieved on 2008-08-18 – ) was a Chinese sprinter. Liu was the first athlete to represent China in competition at an

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. He was the sole competitor from the

Republic of China at the 1932 Summer Olympics China, as the Republic of China, competed in the Summer Olympic Games for the first time at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. Delegation The delegation representing the Republic of China at the Games included the followi ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

; four years later he again represented the

Republic of China at the 1936 Summer Olympics China, as the Republic of China, competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Later in life, he was also an athletics coach, a physical education teacher, and a sports administrator.

1932 Summer Olympics

Due to the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

decided to abstain from attending the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

. The Japanese puppet state of

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...

announced that two athletes, Liu Changchun and Yu Xi-wei would represent Manchukuo at the

. In May 1932, Liu announced in the newspaper ''

Ta Kung Pao ''Ta Kung Pao'' (; formerly ''L'Impartial'') is the oldest active Chinese language newspaper in China. Founded in Tianjin in 1902, the paper is state-owned, controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central Government after the Chinese Civil War ...

'' his refusal to represent Manchukuo and his wish to represent China. As the Kuomintang refused to finance his journey, General

Zhang Xueliang Chang Hsüeh-liang (, June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also romanized as Zhang Xueliang, nicknamed the "Young Marshal" (少帥), known in his later life as Peter H. L. Chang, was the effective ruler of Northeast China and much of northern ...

provided 8,000 silver dollars which made it possible for him to compete in the games. On the July 31, 1932, Liu competed in the 100m preliminaries, where he was assigned to group 2 which had 5 athletes. Liu wrote about the race in his diary: "The winner ran faster than me about 4 yards at the end, his time was 10.9 sec. I was the fourth runner-up, the time was about 11 sec. In this competition, I got ahead before 60m, however, other competitors overtook me after 80m. I cannot get a better result due to exhaustion from a month-long journey to U.S., and lack of exercise during the journey." Liu registered for the Men's 100m, 200m, and 400m; where he failed to qualify for the Finals of the Men's 100m and 200m, and he did not compete in the Men's 400m due to exhaustion.

Teaching and administrative career

Liu began his teaching career in the 1930s. He taught as an assistant instructor, lecturer, associate professor, and professor of physical education at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

Beijing Normal University Beijing Normal University (BNU, ), colloquially known as Beishida (), is a public research university located in Beijing, China, with a strong emphasis on humanities and sciences. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in China ...

, Northeastern Chung-Cheng University, and

Dalian University of Technology Dalian University of Technology (DUT) (), colloquially known in Chinese as Dagong (), is a public research university located in Dalian, Liaoning, China, with an additional campus in Panjin, Liaoning. Established in April 1949, it is the ...

. The Liu Changchun Gymnasium at the

Liu Changchun Gymnasium, Dalian University of Technology.
http://tyg.dlut.edu.cn/english/
, retrieved on 2008-08-18 is named in honor of Liu. As a sports administrator, Liu served in many capacities: *In 1964 Liu was elected as a Member of the Fourth Committee of the

All-China Sports Federation The All-China Sports Federation () is a national non-governmental, non-profit sports organization in China. It oversees a wide array of sports associations in the country. It is responsible to the State General Administration of Sports and the Mini ...

, and later became a permanent committee member of the sports federation. *In 1978 Liu served as Member of the Fifth

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

. *Liu was vice chairman of the

Chinese Olympic Committee The Chinese Olympic Committee (; IOC code: CHN) has been the officially designated body of the People's Republic of China (PRC) regarding the Olympic Games and other affiliated international sport federations since 1979, when the Nagoya Resolu ...

Liu is the author of the books ''Track and Field Instructional Methodology'' () and ''Track and Field Judging Methodology'' ().

Legacy

Liu's life was made into the film
The One Man Olympics
'. It was released in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Changchun 1909 births 1983 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Chinese male sprinters Olympic athletes of China Athletes from Dalian Northeastern University (China) alumni Northeastern University (China) faculty Beijing Normal University faculty Dalian University of Technology faculty Educators from Liaoning Runners from Liaoning

1932 Summer Olympics

Teaching and administrative career

Legacy

See also

References