When can China send an excellent athlete to the Olympic Games? When can China send an excellent sports team to participate in the Olympic Games? When can China invite all countries in the world to host the Olympic Games in Beijing instead of Athens? This is the famous "Three Questions about the Olympics" in sports history.
These three slogans were born in 1908, and they are symbolic issues that the Olympic Movement has a far-reaching impact on modern China. The last question became a reality after a whole hundred years.
Olympia in the north of China.
When the second Olympic Games was held in Paris, an unprecedented disaster was happening in China. Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, and the Beijing-Tianjin area was in flames.
If in modern China, which city had the most contact with the advanced western civilization and the fastest speed, then only two cities could compete-Tianjin and Shanghai, but in sports, Tianjin was better. In the year before the first Olympic Games, the YMCA brought basketball to Tianjin, which was the beginning of the introduction of basketball into China.
In the old newspapers of that year, we can read about sports organizations in Tianjin, such as Paul Vientiane, tennis club, golf club and football club. Some popular sports in western countries have quietly appeared in Tianjin, the largest trading port in northern China.
Tianjin University, formerly known as Beiyang University, was founded in 1895. From 65438 to 0898, Beiyang University held the first school sports meeting, which was the first case of modern school physical education in China. Since then, the inter-school sports meeting has gradually started in Tianjin. 1902 Tianjin school sports meeting was officially held by Tianjin YMCA, with the same events as the Olympic Games.
Tianjin was a pioneer in holding city games in modern China. At the beginning of this sports meeting, the reporter of Beijing-Tianjin Times reported enthusiastically, praising Tianjin for hosting this kind of sports meeting, which was the fire that the Olympic Movement spread to China, and was called Olympia in the north of China.