Digest

OLYMPICS

Zhang appointed chair of new IOC commission

China's former Olympic champion Zhang Hong has been appointed chair of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) new Coordination Commission for the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea.

Zhang, who won China's first ever speed skating Olympic gold medal at Sochi 2014, was elected onto the IOC Athletes' Commission in 2018, with her latest appointment announced on Thursday.

She is also a member of the Athletes' Entourage Commission and was a member of the Evaluation Commission for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2026.

Zhang will head the six-member Coordination Commission, five of whom are women, to support the organization of the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in Asia.

The IOC says women now account for almost half of the membership of its various commissions, an all-time high in its drive for gender equality.

"Advancing women in leadership roles in sport is truly a team effort," IOC president Thomas Bach said. "There is always more that can be done, and we can make progress only if we work on this together."

VOLLEYBALL

Lang Ping doc to debut in global film festival

A documentary about Chinese great Lang Ping will premiere as part of an online film festival next month, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has announced.

Lang's remarkable life and unparalleled success on the court are depicted in The Iron Hammer, directed by Joan Chen and presented by the Olympic Channel.

The documentary will premiere on June 7, the closing day of We Are One: A Global Film Festival, a free 10-day online event on You-Tube. The 99-minute doc will be available on the Olympic Channel later in 2020.

Tianjin-born Lang, 59, remains the only person to win Olympic volleyball titles both as a player (1984) and a coach (2016).

Known as "The Iron Hammer" for her thunderous spikes, Lang also led China to gold at the 1982 world championship and at World Cups in 1981 and 1985. In addition, she claimed MVP awards at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the 1982 world championship and the 1985 World Cup.

As a coach, Lang led China to Olympic gold at Rio 2016, and back-to-back World Cup crowns in 2015 and 2019.

Experienced Xue called up to beach squad

Xue Chen, a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has been called up for the Chinese national beach volleyball squad's next training camp, which is scheduled to begin early next month.

The 31-year-old, who partnered Zhang Xi to win China's first Olympic medal in beach volleyball at the Beijing Games, is joined by Rio 2016 Olympian Wang Fan, Xia Xinyi, Wang Xinxin, Wen Shuhui and Wang Jingzhe in the national women's roster, which was announced by the Volleyball Management Center of the State General Administration of Sport on Wednesday.

Xue claimed gold alongside Zhang at the 2013 world championships but failed to qualify for the Rio Games when she was paired with Xia.

The players will gather in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on June 8 to begin training and preparation for the Tokyo Olympic Games, which have been postponed until July 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

BASKETBALL

Veteran coach Jiang bids farewell to Bulls

One of China's most famous basketball coaches, Jiang Xingquan, officially bid farewell to the Zhejiang Golden Bulls on Thursday after serving the Yiwu-based club as a consultant for three years.

Jiang, 80, decided to resign with his contract about to expire and the Chinese Basketball Association league yet to resume following its suspension due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

"He accepted our invitation at the age of 77, and we will always feel grateful," read a Bulls statement announcing Jiang's exit.

"At the moment, it is difficult to express our feelings with appropriate words. We hope we can win one victory after another in return."

Signing off, Jiang said: "I'm sorry to leave the team at this special time. I will always care about and support our team as before."

Royal Fighters take voluntary pay cut

Players and staff of the Beijing Royal Fighters have volunteered to take a pay cut to ease the club's financial burden during the COVID-19 pandemic, the CBA franchise announced on Sunday.

"After learning about the impact inflicted upon club business due to the CBA's hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, staff, coaches and players have voluntarily reduced their salaries, which demonstrates all members' willingness to help the club through difficulties," read a club statement posted on social media.

The Royal Fighters are the first team to publicly announce a salary cut in China's top-flight league.

Coached by Stephon Marbury, the Royal Fighters currently sit eighth in the 20-team CBA with a win-loss record of 19-11.

ATHLETICS

Huang leaps to victory with season-best mark

World Indoor Championships medalist Huang Changzhou recorded a season-best leap of 8.03 meters to win an online men's long jump competition staged by the Chinese national team on Saturday.

The competition included three events－men's and women's long jump and women's triple jump. With athletes competing from their local training bases, the action was live-streamed online.

The 25-year-old Huang from Sichuan province, who won bronze at the 2016 World Indoor Championships, jumped 8.03m in the fourth round to seize victory.

Asian Games runner-up Zhang Yaoguang from Liaoning province was second (8.01m), with Zhuang Jingqiang third (7.89m).

PANDEMIC

Guidelines issued for staging sports events

The General Administration of Sport of China on Friday issued guidelines concerning the orderly resumption of sports events nationwide following their suspensions due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to the guidelines, cross-region mass sports events and activities, including national marathons, and international and national multi-sports events, will not be permitted to resume in the near future.

Professional competitions such as soccer's Chinese Super League and basketball's CBA have been instructed to independently formulate restart plans, which will require authorization from the GASC.

The governing body says "non-contact national single sports events" will be allowed to resume in a prudent and orderly manner on the premise of fully considering the situation and requirements of epidemic prevention and control in the host area, comprehensively studying the necessity and risk of the event, and formulating a strict epidemic prevention and control plan as well as an emergency plan.

Xinhua