Liu Changchun

Liu Changchun

Born	November 25, 1909 Ping Island, Jin County, Fengtian, China
Died	March 25, 1983(1983-03-25) (aged 73) Dalian, Liaoning, China
Nationality	Chinese
Occupation	Sprinter, later in his career an athletics coach, an physical education teacher and a sports administrator
Known for	The first athlete to represent China at the Olympic Games

Liu Changchun (simplified Chinese: 刘长春; traditional Chinese: 劉長春; pinyin: Liú Chángchūn; Wade–Giles: Liu Ch'ang-Ch'un; listed in official Olympic records as "Liu, Cheng-Chun"; born 1909 on Ping Island, Jin County, Fengtian, China (now Wafangdian, Dalian, Liaoning Province), died February 21, 1983(1983-02-21) in Dalian, China) was a Chinese sprinter. Liu was the first athlete to represent China in competition at an Olympic Games. He was the sole competitor from the Republic of China at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles; four years later he again represented the Republic of China at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. He was also an athletics coach and physical education teacher and a sports administrator.

Due to the Sino-Japanese War, the Kuomintang of the Republic of China decided to abstain from attending the Games of the X Olympiad (1932 Summer Olympic Games) in Los Angeles.The Japanese puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, Manchukuo, announced that two athletes, Liu Chang-chun and Yu Xi-wei would represent Manchukuo in the 1932 Summer Olympics through the de facto government-controlled newspaper. In May 1932, Liu proclaimed that as a Chinese person, he would never represent the puppet state of Manchukuo in the Olympic Games in Ta Kung Pao, a Chinese newspaper. Liu refused to represent Manchukuo, and instead decided to represent China. Liu found it difficult to participate in the 1932 Summer Olympic Games as the Kuomintang refused to finance his journey. General Zhang Xueliang (Chang Hsüeh-liang) provided 8,000 Silver Dollars (Yin-yuan) to Liu which made it possible for him to compete in the 1932 Summer Olympic Games.