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Lars Hamer

He may have turned 100 years old this year, but that is not Wu Chengzhang’s only distinction.
Wu is also China’s oldest living Olympian, having appeared at the 1948 London Games and done so in record-breaking fashion.
Born in Shanghai on February 8, 1924, Wu’s introduction to sport was as a young table tennis player. However, he later switched his focus to basketball, and it propelled him to the London Olympics.
“At that time, there were 10 people in our team: five Shanghainese, two Filipino-Chinese, one Singaporean-Chinese, one from the army and one from the navy,” Wu told Chinese state media.

The team competed as Republic of China. It was the only Olympics in which mainland Chinese and Taiwanese athletes formed part of the same delegation.
“Before we left for London, we trained for a month at the Central University Gymnasium in Nanjing, which is now the gymnasium of Southeast University.”
Wu, the only member of the 1948 Chinese delegation still alive to tell the tale, featured in all five of his side’s matches.
China won three of them, against Belgium, South Korea and Iraq, and lost against Chile and the Philippines.
“Before the last game against Iraq, China and the other four teams were all on the same points,” Wu said. “China got a big 125-25 win, and I personally scored 32 points.”
Those team and individual hauls were competition bests, though not enough for China to qualify to contest the medals.
They did, however, have the minor placings to fight for, and proceeded to beat Switzerland and Great Britain. That sent them into a play-off against Italy to decide 17th and 18th places. They lost, but Wu left with happy memories.
“For athletes, the Olympic Games is the pinnacle of a lifetime,” Wu said.
After the Olympics, Wu was recruited by the People’s Liberation Army and coached military basketball teams.
He retired from his role in the army in 1984 but kept active, forming the Guhua amateur senior basketball team in Shanghai, learning to play cricket at the age of 88 and cycling well into his 90s.
When the Olympics returned to London in 2012, Wu, who had not been to England in the 64 intervening years, wrote to the British government expressing his desire to return and watch the Games in person.
The British consulate, British Airways and tourist board VisitBritain combined to make the trip possible.
During his time in London, Wu rode the London Eye with a former opponent from 1948, in Great Britain basketball player Lionel Price.

The pair also had lunch together before watching China face Great Britain. Although Wu saw his nation lose as the hosts won 90-58, he correctly predicted the outcome prematch.
He stayed sharp by playing bridge four or five days a week “to exercise my brain”.
Wu’s name remained prominent in Chinese basketball thanks to his son Wu Xinshui, who turned professional and was voted one of the 50 best Chinese players of all time in a 1999 survey.


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China’s oldest known surviving Olympian took part in the 1948 London Games. Photo: V&A Images

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Sport

Paris Olympics 2024

China

Basketball player, now aged 100, made record-breaking contribution before returning to Britain 64 years later to watch another London Games


Basketball player, now aged 100, made record-breaking contribution before returning to Britain 64 years later to watch another London Games.


CBA (Chinese Basketball Association)