an historian of Olympic proportions

An interview with a former IUS colleague of mine, history professor John Findling-- with Katya Cengel in the C-J on one of his areas of expertise and one of tremendous contemporary relevance...

The first Olympics in which China participated was in 1932 in Los Angeles. It sent a team of one.

The athlete was runner Liu Changchun, and he didn't make the finals in either of his events -- the 100 and 200 meters. But he became a celebrity, said John Findling, who in 2006 traveled to China to speak on China's historic participation in the Olympics.

"The whole Chinese-American community in Los Angeles came out to greet him," the retired Indiana University Southeast history professor said.

Four years later, China sent 69 athletes to the Olympic Games in Berlin via ship and train. They were supposed to have practiced during the voyage, but instead suffered from seasickness, said Findling.

They won no medals that year, or in years to come.

It was not until the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles that China won its first Olympic medal, and 31 others.

Now, the Summer Games are in China for the first time, and the Chinese hope to win more gold medals than any other country, said Findling.

Because China has a "home field advantage" -- its athletes don't have to travel as far or adjust to unfamiliar food, weather and customs -- they will probably do better than ever, he explained.

Findling co-edited a dictionary of the Olympics in 1996, which was updated in 2004 and rechristened "Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement" (Greenwood Press, www.greenwood.com/catalog/GR2278.aspx).

Co-editor Kimberly Pelle, who manages the adult student center at IUS, stressed the encyclopedia is not a "records book" but "more of a historical, political, socio-economic essay."...

Click here for the rest of the interview...