Sporting Superpower: China's Olympic Dreams

<p>On the cusp of the Chinese New Year and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Jeremiah and David record an Olympian episode of the podcast. The guest is Mark Dreyer, a veteran sports reporter, who has just released his new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sporting-Superpower-Insiders-Chinas-Quest-ebook/dp/B09QC64Y9B/ref=sr_1_1?crid=NP5HY72N36H2&amp;keywords=mark+dreyer+sporting+superpower&amp;qid=1643184587&amp;sprefix=mark+dreyer+sporting+superp%2Caps%2C1111&amp;sr=8-1" style="background-color:transparent;">Sporting Superpower: An Insider’s View on China’s Quest to Be the Best</a>. Mark has worked for Sky Sports, Fox Sports, AP Sports, and many other outlets and currently hosts the <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/china-sports-insider-podcast/id1578652044" style="background-color:transparent;">China Sports Insider Podcast</a>. The conversation covers issues such as the historical importance of the 2008 Olympics, challenges of Covid-19 in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese model of recruiting and training Olympic athletes, the PR disasters of Chinese athletes due to lack of media savvy, the quest for a world-class Chinese soccer/football team, and the nexus of geopolitics, economics and soft power in China’s Olympic endeavors. </p><p></p><p>Dreyer also recounts many fascinating and telling anecdotes from his many years of interviewing athletes and covering Chinese sporting events.</p><p></p><p>Other books and clips mentioned:</p><p></p><p>Susan Brownell (1995) <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Training-Body-China-Peoples-Republic/dp/0226076474/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2Y62FEHUBOZ38&amp;keywords=susan+brownell&amp;qid=1643184690&amp;sprefix=Susan+Brownell%2Caps%2C408&amp;sr=8-2">Training the Body for China: Sports in the Moral Order of the People's Republic</a></p><p></p><p>Mao Zedong (1917) "<a href="https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-6/mswv6_01.htm">A Study in Physical Education</a>"</p><p></p><p>Yao Ming, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jss1xEzh5b4">