For 2008, our Chef de Mission is Judge Charles Carter Lee, an LA Superior Court judge who speaks fluent Mandarin. Not only that, but he has a very long and interesting history with China. He has visited more than 20 times, given various lectures throughout Chinese universities and married a Chinese-American woman. But what makes him even more beloved here in China is that he was the public envoy to China in 1984 during the Soviet boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
The Soviet Union was trying to rally 100 countries to boycott the Games as payback to the United States’ boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games. The Chair of the 1984 Games, Peter Ueberroth (who is our current USOC Chairman) sent public envoys to the communist countries to try to convince them to participate and ignore the Soviet orders. To China, he sent Judge Lee, who was already working with the ’84 Games staff and a friend of Ueberroth’s.
Judge Lee flew to China and spent an intense week convincing the Chinese to participate in the Games. His task was more significant than those envoys sent to other countries, because China had yet to ever send a full delegation to an Olympic Games. Somehow, someway, he was able to negotiate and convince them that LA should be their first. He moved mountains in obtaining their cooperation, and ultimately, welcomed them into the Olympic Movement for the first time.
The 1984 Chinese Olympic Team marching into the Opening Ceremony.So with all of this history, Judge Lee is an excellent Chef de Mission, primarily because of the goodwill and affection he creates here among the Chinese people for him and the U.S. Team. I act as his publicist here in China, and he’s done countless interviews in Mandarin with Chinese newspapers and TV networks.
On Friday, we were invited to attend a reunion with one of the more famous Chinese athletes from those 1984 Games, triple jumper Zou Zhenxian, who still holds the Chinese record at 17.34 meters. He and Judge Lee became good friends at those Olympics and hadn’t seen each other since. The reunion was facilitated by a major daily newspaper in Beijing, the Beijing Youth Daily.
On Friday, we were invited to attend a reunion with one of the more famous Chinese athletes from those 1984 Games, triple jumper Zou Zhenxian, who still holds the Chinese record at 17.34 meters. He and Judge Lee became good friends at those Olympics and hadn’t seen each other since. The reunion was facilitated by a major daily newspaper in Beijing, the Beijing Youth Daily.
Triple jumper Zou on the left and Judge Lee on the right, holding a photo of them from 1984.
It was such a hoot to witness! Mr. Zou is quite the jolly man and was laughing and jumping around the whole time. I had a translator sitting next to me and she was giving me the play-by-play of what they were discussing, from their families to their retirement plans to good memories from 1984.
Mind you, all of this was witnessed by a newspaper staff of 10, who took photos and jotted down notes, and made a big feature out of it for the next day’s paper. The article described the great ties between our two countries that are forged through friendship in sport. Not bad!
Next up, Judge Lee had an on camera interview with a news program on CCTV, the government owned TV network throughout China. He was interviewed by Mr. Shui Junyi, considered the Larry King of China for his “Top Talk” one-on-one interview program that’s viewed by 30 million+ Chinese viewers each episode.
Mr. Shui has interviewed sports stars including Tiger Woods and David Beckham, and more than 200 government leaders including Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown. Their questions to Judge Lee focused on his ties with China and the friendly rivalry between the U.S. and Chinese Teams, which he helped establish. They also gave him ample opportunity to praise the hard work of the Chinese in putting together these spectacular venues and the Games as a whole. It goes far in presenting a humble and appreciative front to Team USA.
Mr. Shui insisted we get a photo together to thank me for setting up the interview (remember, he’s a celebrity here). Is his head huge or is mine tiny?
Mind you, all of this was witnessed by a newspaper staff of 10, who took photos and jotted down notes, and made a big feature out of it for the next day’s paper. The article described the great ties between our two countries that are forged through friendship in sport. Not bad!
Next up, Judge Lee had an on camera interview with a news program on CCTV, the government owned TV network throughout China. He was interviewed by Mr. Shui Junyi, considered the Larry King of China for his “Top Talk” one-on-one interview program that’s viewed by 30 million+ Chinese viewers each episode.
Mr. Shui has interviewed sports stars including Tiger Woods and David Beckham, and more than 200 government leaders including Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown. Their questions to Judge Lee focused on his ties with China and the friendly rivalry between the U.S. and Chinese Teams, which he helped establish. They also gave him ample opportunity to praise the hard work of the Chinese in putting together these spectacular venues and the Games as a whole. It goes far in presenting a humble and appreciative front to Team USA.
Mr. Shui insisted we get a photo together to thank me for setting up the interview (remember, he’s a celebrity here). Is his head huge or is mine tiny?
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