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China’s oldest living Olympian competed in London – not 2012 but 1948

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

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

He may have turned 100 years old this year, but that is not Wu Chengzhang’s only distinction.

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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.

Wu Chengzhang played basketball in the 1948 London Olympics. Photo: Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Wu Chengzhang played basketball in the 1948 London Olympics. Photo: Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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.

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