Overseas Chinese athlete from America makes historic appearance at country’s National Games
Country is opening its arms to diaspora in bid to ‘share in Chinese dream’ – and perhaps strengthen Olympic teams
American Jay Shi made history at the Chinese National Games – the country’s ‘Olympics’ – as he fired his first shots in the men’s 50m pistol competition.
Born in Tianjin, the host city of the Games, in 1979 before his family emigrated to the US when he was a child, Shi became the first overseas Chinese to appear at the quadrennial sports festival under new rules.
He didn’t qualify for the next round, but told state media Xinhua: “It’s amazing. Even now I can’t believe it.
“Showing up in the National Games arena and hearing my relatives chant and cheer for me is an experience as precious as hitting a bull’s eye,” Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Seven other overseas Chinese athletes are competing, in a move that some see as China attempting to widen its net to attract athletes from the Chinese diaspora – especially with Beijing hosting the Winter Olympics in 2022.
In an announcement in June, the country’s sporting bodies invited overseas Chinese to share in the “Chinese dream” by competing in Tianjin. Chinese with foreign citizenship, descendants of Chinese immigrants and Chinese citizens abroad were eligible.
