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 (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. 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 following ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

; four years later he again represented the

Republic of China at the 1936 Summer Olympics A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a state in which political power rests with the public (people), typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although a ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. 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 was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

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 du ...

. The Japanese puppet state of

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

announced that two athletes, Liu Changchun and Yu Xiwei would represent Manchukuo at the

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

Ta Kung Pao ''Ta Kung Pao'' (; formerly ''L'Impartial'' in Latin-based languages) is a Hong Kong-based, state-owned Chinese-language newspaper. Founded in Tianjin in 1902, the paper is controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government i ...

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

Zhang Xueliang Zhang Xueliang ( zh, t=張學良; June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also commonly known by his nickname "the Young Marshal", was a Chinese general who in 1928 succeeded his father Zhang Zuolin as the commander of the Northeastern Army. He is bes ...

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 The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

, and

400m The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

; 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 or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

Beijing Normal University Beijing Normal University (BNU) () is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education of China, and co-funded by the Ministry of Education and the B ...

, Northeastern Chung-Cheng University, and

Dalian University of Technology The Dalian University of Technology (DLUT) is a public university in Ganjingzi, Dalian, Ganjingzi, Dalian, Liaoning, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education (China), Ministry of Education. The university is part of Project 2 ...

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 people's organization in China that oversees a wide array of sports associations across the country. It is responsible to the General Administration of Sport of China and the Ministry of Civil Affai ...

, 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) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...

. *Liu was vice chairman of the

Chinese Olympic Committee The Chinese Olympic Committee (COC; ; List of IOC country codes, IOC code: CHN) is the National Olympic Committee of China. It is headquartered in Dongcheng, Beijing, Dongcheng, Beijing, China. Leaders Timeline concerning Olympic recogni ...

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 for China Athletes from Dalian Northeastern University (China) alumni Academic staff of the Northeastern University (China) Academic staff of Beijing Normal University Academic staff of Dalian University of Technology Educators from Liaoning Runners from Liaoning 20th-century Chinese sportsmen

1932 Summer Olympics

Teaching and administrative career

Legacy

See also

References