Olympic success in sports new and old boosted by foreign coaches
Motivated by the untapped potential and admirable work ethic of their Chinese disciples, a legion of foreign coaches have overcome challenges, both on and off the field, to help Team China shine brightly in Paris.
Despite dealing with cultural differences and a language barrier, as well as the fierce on-field competition, Team China’s foreign coaches and their assistants have hit on a medal-winning formula with the country’s hard-working Olympians, leading them to a series of historic “firsts”, huge ranking leaps, and long-awaited revivals at the Paris Games.
Guided by 42 foreign coaches and staff members from 17 countries and regions, the biggest international crew a Chinese Olympic delegation has ever hired, Team China has expanded its athletic prowess beyond its traditionally strong events to earn success in a wider range of once Western-dominated sports, as well as emerging disciplines.
The East-West collaboration almost delivered, arguably, what would have been the biggest team sport upset of the Games on Aug 9, when the Chinese women’s field hockey team pushed the world No 1 Netherlands to its limit in a narrow final defeat.
Entering the knockout stage underrated and overlooked, the Chinese squad stunned two traditional powers — Australia in the quarters and then world No 3 Belgium in the semis — on its way to meeting the defending champion in a rematch of the Beijing 2008 final, where it also met the Dutch side in the Olympic gold-medal decider.
And China came very close to knocking the mighty Oranje off its golden throne before the Dutch neutralized Team China’s early goal with a 52nd-minute penalty corner. The Dutch team then retained its Olympic title in a subsequent shootout, which ended 3-1 in their favor.
As the mastermind behind the David-vs-Goliath heroics, Team China’s Aussie coach Alyson Annan, a two-time Olympic champion as a player with the Hockeyroos (1996, 2000), attributed the Chinese program’s rejuvenation to the country’s sporting culture and her “magical” bond with her players.
“I think that China is a force in sports, (it has) an amazing sporting culture. I think that these athletes are incredible. They’re devoted, they worked hard, just giving them a bit of confidence makes them great,” said Annan, who steered the Netherlands to victory at Tokyo 2020, before switching sides to take over the Chinese squad in 2022.
“I didn’t come in and change the culture. That wasn’t my job. I came in and became part of the culture. Learning the language is one of the things, and then you become one. That part of it was exceptionally special.”
After leading the Oranje to the gold in Tokyo, Annan surprisingly resigned the following year over a dispute with the Dutch association about team culture.
Now, it seems the Chinese culture and the players’ commitment suit Annan’s approach just fine, as highlighted by the rise of Team China’s world ranking from No 14 when Annan took over in 2022, to sixth prior to the Paris Games.
“Coach Annan brought us advanced tactics, instilled self-confidence in each of us, and has become good friends with all of the players. She’s a big part of the reason for our improvement over the past two years,” said team captain Ou Zixia.
Savoring the huge sense of accomplishment of leading China this far, Annan said she is open to a contract extension with Team China.
“This must be up near the top,” said the 51-year old Annan, comparing the silver finish with Team China to her other career accolades.
Among many of China’s historic first golds in Paris, the one landed by teen cyclist Deng Yawen in women’s BMX freestyle park has been hailed as a game-changer for the sport, with an Olympic title secured at the discipline’s second Games sure to draw more support and attention in the “kingdom of bicycles”.
Much of that success is owed to Venezuelan BMX legend Daniel Dhers, who has been coaching the Chinese team for the past year.
Known as the “Godfather of BMX”, Dhers has been riding together with his Chinese students and passing on his nearly two decades of experience to China’s talented young riders.
“The team already had a lot of good stuff, they already had a good progression. The Chinese athletes’ work ethic is second to none,” said the 39-year-old Tokyo silver medalist and five-time X Games champion.
Dhers conjured up the magic by riding with the Chinese girls, challenging them with new tricks, and learning from them as well.
“He really helped us avoid making a lot of mistakes in training. With his vast experience, he was instrumental in our technical breakthroughs,” said Deng.
As a crucial contributor to Team China’s impressive medal haul in Paris, the Chinese artistic swimming squad announced its arrival as a new powerhouse in the sport by claiming its first and second Olympic gold medals in Paris, taking full advantage of the absence of a Russian team that had won every gold in the discipline since Sydney 2000.
Standing beside head coach Zhang Xiaohuan, former Spanish national team mentor Anna Tarres was a driving force behind the Chinese team’s outstanding improvement, particularly in its artistic expression, musical direction, and routine variety.
Tarres’ methods, which prioritize the relentless pursuit of perfection through repetition and hard work, were embraced by Zhang’s team, who gave credit to the Spaniard.
“We have really made huge improvements in expressing more emotion, adding more variety and using the music better,” Zhang said of the program since Tarres joined her as an assistant in 2021.
As the Chinese delegation returned home with medals and glory, Tarres, Dhers, and Annan, as well as numerous other foreign coaches — such as South Korea’s Kwon Yong-hak, who led the Chinese women’s archery squad to challenge his home country in the team final; and Italian race walking coach Patrizio Antonio Parcesepe, who helped Yang Jiayu finally bag her long overdue Olympic gold in the women’s 20km — deserve equal applause with their Chinese counterparts.
