From the Economist

EVEN in China, a century is a long time to wait. In 1908, as the fourth modern Olympic games took place in London, a magazine called Tianjin Youth posed three questions. When would a Chinese athlete take part in the games? When would the country send a team? And when would it stage the games?

The answer to the first question turned out to be 1932, when Liu Changchun, a sprinter, made his way to Los Angeles from his home in north-eastern China, then under Japanese occupation. He won nothing, but is remembered as a hero. 

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