Who's hot, who's not in China Sports (week 30)

Flag-bearing sexism

It's been an unwritten rule that China's summer Olympic flag bearer is picked from the men's basketball team since 1984 in Los Angeles. And this time was not an exception as Yi Jianlian was named despite some minor protests.

Zhao Ruirui, a retired former women's national volleyball team member, called on authorities to consider a female candidate on her micro blog following Yi's announcement. The sentiment was echoed by many online who believe there are more athletes who outshine Yi on the international stage, and for which reason, like all other countries, China should snap the basketball's privilege in this category and endow the honor to its best player.

The pro-Yi coalition, however, defended the tradition should be respected and the work of carrying the flag throughout the two-hour-plus opening ceremony is really heavy lifting that is difficult for a female. They even mocked the fact the women's volleyball team decided to be absent from the ceremony due to physical reasons.

For me, both sides' arguments stand on firm ground. Although I am a huge basketball fan, I am also a feminist. And I am happy that the authorities responded instantly that females will be considered in future. Maybe an internal poll next time?

Gymnast's last-minute dropout

China's former Olympic pommel horse gold medalist Teng Haibin has pulled out of the London Games after aggravating a forearm injury in training.

It could be worst things happened to Teng's pro career, worse than a slew of errors he had at the men's team finals in Athens, which was part of the reason for missing a medal, and worse than the disqualification for the Beijing Olympic Games.

With Teng's abrupt exit, the prospect for Chinese Gymnastics team who got 9 of the country's 51 golds in Beijing becomes more gloomy as it faces the trouble of a dwindling talent pool after the veterans have all almost gone.

China's green Olympic star

On July 9, a Chinese elderly man arrived in London on a tricycle, marking the end of his two-year journey from Shanghai to London promoting the Olympic spirit, after covering 60,000 kilometer through 16 countries on a tricycle within two years.

Chen Guanming is a name already known to many as the huge Olympic fan had a 90,000-kilometer tricycle tour with the theme of environmental protection before and during the Beijing Olympic Games. He was invited to attend the closing ceremony for his green efforts.