UW-Madison to welcome China’s champions

Eleven accomplished Chinese student-athletes will spend six months living and studying at the University of Wisconsin–Madison as part of a groundbreaking partnership with Beijing University of Sport, the foremost sports, physical education and exercise science institution in China.

The group includes several Olympic medal winners.

The Chinese Champions Workshop will provide the student-athletes, who are currently enrolled in graduate studies at Beijing University of Sport, with a nondegree seminar to build their English, science, leadership and coaching skills.

The first-of-its-kind collaboration was jointly announced by UW–Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin and her Beijing University of Sport vice president Chi Jian during a meeting in Beijing on Saturday, March 27.

“We’re both excited and honored to host these athletes, who have excelled in elite competition,” says Martin. “They will have exposure to a world-class university environment and experience that complement their home graduate studies. We can offer much, and look forward to the opportunity to get to know them.”

The athletes, who experienced success in the Olympics and other world-class competitions, come from varied sports, such as track, speed skating, swimming, table tennis, skiing, curling or gymnastics, among other areas.

Among them, the best known are Luo Xuejuan, a swimmer who earned a gold medal in the breaststroke, and Xing Huina, who won a gold medal in women’s 10,000-meter run, both in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

In China, successful Olympic athletes are national heroes. The 11 are now involved in graduate studies at Beijing University of Sport.

The workshop is slated to begin this summer and last for six months. If the athletes arrive in June, sessions will encompasses an eight-week summer session, August “intersession” and the fall 2010 semester at UW–Madison.

The Chinese students will be enrolled in the newly formed Wisconsin Institute for Global Leadership and will receive a certificate for participating.

Classes will include a focus on English as a second language, kinesiology, physical education instruction, dance, American and western history; visits to historical sites in Wisconsin and across the U.S.; and athletic experience via the UW Athletic Department.

The idea for the program was formed two years ago with the help of UW–Madison kinesiology professor and chair Li Li Ji.

In 2008, vice president Chi Jian of the Beijing University of Sport led a delegation of 11 presidents and deans of the top Chinese institutions to visit the institutions of the Consortium for Institutional Cooperation, including UW–Madison.

Officials from Beijing Sport told Ji that they enjoyed their visit to Madison and inquired where athletes might find a supportive environment for a short-term workshop. Discussions have been advancing since that time.

“This is a great honor for UW–Madison and one that we hope will spark greater collaboration and exchanges in the future,” says Ji.

The student-athletes are:

• Xing Huina, track, gold medal in the women’s 10,000 meters, 2004 summer Olympics;
• Yang Bo, gymnastics, bronze medal with the 1989 world championship team;
• Luo Xuejuan, swimming, gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics;
• Liu Guozheng, men’s singles table tennis, 2000 Osaka World Championships;
• Zhan Shu, swimming, 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics;
• Wang Jiao, freestyle skiing, 2006 Winter Olympics;
• Li Haonan, speed skating, 2006 Winter Olympics;
• Xiaojiao Sun, gymnastics, bronze medal at the 2001 world championships;
• Fu Tianyu, speed skating, bronze medal at the 2005 world championships;
• Sui Jianshuang, women’s gymnastics, silver medal, 2008 Summer Olympics, and,
• Wang Bingyu, women’s curling, bronze medal, 2010 Winter Olympics.