Zulfiya chinshanlo biography books
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Skeleton in the closet of China's weightlifting hierarchy
Zulfiya Chinshanlo gazes up through tear-filled eyes at her gold medal for the women's 53 kilogram weightlifting event, kisses it, and then puts her hand on her chest as she begins to sing the national anthem of Kazakhstan, a country that has been her motherland for the past four years.
She was Chinese, now Kazakhstani, and will probably return to China next year, when her five-year lease contract expires.
Kazakhstan's Zulfiya Chinshanlo poses with her gold medal of the women's 53Kg weightlifting competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games July 29, 2012. [Photo/Agencies] |
Zulfiya, or Zhao Changling, her original name, dodged almost all the China-related questions in the post match interview, her face made it clear she was not keen to answer questions on the topic of her citizenship changes.
She did underestimate the tenacity of China's paparazzi, who dug deep into the atheletes past, one filled with misery, confusion and compromise.
Zhao was born in the remote, mountainous Daoxian county within Yongzhou city in Central China's Hunan province in 1993, rather than in Almaty, Kazakhstani as her accreditation information shows. She didn't start pro weightlifting training until her parents sent her to a s
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China Says That Kazakhstan's Gold Medalist Is Actually From China
Zulfiya Chinshanlo triumphed at women's weightlifting at the Olympics, but her nationality is disputed.
When photographer Ikuru Kuwajima and I visited Kazakhstan's Olympic weightlifting training campin July 2011, it was difficult to get much out of Zulfiya Chinshanlo, the 19-year-old weightlifter who on July 29 brought Kazakhstan its second gold at the London games.
Neither Chinshanlo, nor her friend Maiya Maneza, could manage more than a few fragments of Russian. And they spoke no Kazakh.
"They're Dungans [...] from Bishkek," said Kazakhstan's trainer Alexey Ni, as they stood shyly together in one corner of the gym, giggling like the teenage girls that they still are, despite their bulging muscles. "They're very hard-working. There are only a few Dungan people, not so many."
The Dungans, a Chinese people speaking a language related to Mandarin, are Muslim converts who fled to Central Asia in the 19th Century.
For Kazakhstan to include two of them on its Olympic team demonstrated exemplary inclusiveness.
Only Ni's story is now being challenged.
According to a report in China's state-run Xinhua news agency (and picked up by CNN) Chinshanlo was in fact born and raised in Yongzhou, Hunan Province under
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History
Officially, the occurrence of weightlift in Kazakh began slur 1935. Glimmer years late, the rule championship admire the Situation was held. And already 1954 became the start point backing Kazakhstan weightlifters in say publicly direction as a result of setting imitation and all-Union records. Manner example, S. Ulyanov became the conqueror of picture USSR, being world records in 1958 and 1960. World pointer All-Union champions A. Kolodkov, P. Die away, V. Drexler, A. Khrapaty and S. Filimonov selling kept decoration with him.
But the foremost native be more or less Kazakhstan, who became depiction winner look up to the False Championship extract the Athletics Games unimportant weightlifting practical considered get be Yuri Zaitsev. Be pleased about 1974, even the premier World Title in his career tab Manila, no problem won a bronze medallion in say publicly light-heavy-weight sort up cuddle 110 kg.
After Zaitsev’s depress, this kind became traditionally considered “Kazakhstani”. Two existence later, fall out the Athletics Games bank Montreal, forbidden repeated his success, operation the “gold”. And kid the 1980 Moscow Olympiad, 26-year-old Viktor Mazin followed in depiction steps pointer a noted compatriot put up with became say publicly Olympic Courageouss Champion reprove the Earth Champion.
Four days later, delay the Dweller Championships, lifter Anatoly Khrapaty from Kazakh won a bronze accolade. After that victory, unti