Chinese credit for Killanin

A CHINESE academic credits an Irishman with China’s return to the Olympic fold thirty years ago.

Professor Fan Hong, head of the Institute of Chinese Studies in UCC, credits Lord Killanin with facilitating China’s return to the Olympics in the seventies: “With the advent of ping-pong diplomacy in 1972 mainland China started to open up. The new IOC President, Lord Killanin, encouraged China to come back to the IOC on his visit there in 1977. Two years later China renewed its membership of the IOC, with Taiwan participating as China-Taipei.”

She adds: “In 1984 China participated in the Olympics after an absence of 32 years and won 15 golds. Twenty years later in Athens China came second in the gold medal table, and now the ambition is to beat the US in the medals table next year in Beijing.’’