Chinese athletes eye new sports at next Olympics, including American-dominant flag football

BEIJING: The dust has barely settled from the recent Paris Olympics, but Chinese athletes are already setting their sights on and training hard for the next Summer Games.
The 2028 edition will be held in glitzy Los Angeles, home of Hollywood in the state of California.
China will be looking to improve its medal haul from Paris and many in the country are optimistic that new additions to the sports lineup could help with that.
This includes the American-dominated sport of flag football, which will make its Olympic debut on home soil in the City of Angels.
Aside from flag football, squash will also be a new addition to the Games while baseball, lacrosse and cricket will make a return.
Huang Chen, founder of the Gambol flag football school in Beijing, said there are already teams formed in various cities across China.
“Because flag football is similar to other sports, with a few years of training, athletes from other sports can perform very well in this sport. It’s not hard for them to do that,” he said.
One such flag football player vying to be one of the nation’s best is 11-year-old Feng Bailing, who has been training hard for five years.
“I really hope to play at the Olympics because it’s something to be especially proud of. With every touchdown, I feel like I’ve grown a little,” the student told CNA.
Feng’s mother believes China can perform well beyond its traditionally strong disciplines that include table tennis and badminton.
“The US thinks it has an edge in flag football – that’s why they applied for its inclusion in the next Olympics. Flag football not only depends on (their) physical abilities, but also on strategy and teamwork,” she said.
The selection for the national team will come from various aspects, according to Xinhua news agency quoting Liu Fuheng, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Rugby Football Association, the sport’s governing body in China.
This could include some rugby players who make the switch to flag football, and talent scouted from sport schools and other outstanding athletes.
While still a relatively unfamiliar sport in China, flag football is hugely popular in the US.
The 2028 host already has a well-established ecosystem for American football, a more contact-heavy variant of the sport.
Flag football’s debut in Los Angeles could feature veterans on the field, with stars from the National Football League (NFL) already expressing their interest to compete.
They include well-known quarterbacks, as the league pushes to make flag football a global game.
According to the International Federation of American Football, an estimated 20 million people in more than 100 countries are currently playing the sport.
At the world championships held once every two years since 2002, the US has topped the medal tally with six golds for men while its women’s team ties Mexico with three golds each.
Its Olympic inclusion means the non-contact, fast-paced team sport will soon become more widely played and competitive.
Back in China, flag football has become more popular in recent years mainly as a leisure sport among young people in the cities.
But to many serious athletes, its growing prominence could mean more funding from authorities, and opportunities to play on a much larger stage.
“In China, the difference between the attention given to Olympic and non-Olympic sports is very big,” said Adam Zhang, founder of Key-Solution Sports Consulting.
“Because sport management departments in China will attach great importance to it and each city will form their own (teams), the government will provide funding,” he added
“This will inspire young people as they may have a chance to join the national team and represent the country at the Olympics. This will have a strong appeal to many people.”
Ines Liu, a senior manager at international business advisory Dezan Shira & Associates, said sports across the board is becoming increasingly common as an activity among the Chinese, particularly the youth.  
“The sports industry in China … is expected to continue growing (due to) favourable government policies, increasing health consciousness, social interactions and fitness opportunities … especially among the Gen Z generation,” she told CNA’s East Asia Tonight.
China tied with the US for the most gold medals – 40 each – at the Paris Olympics, the first time the two countries have done so at the Summer Games. It also dominated the Paralympics with 94 gold medals.
Under China’s 14th five-year plan, it aims to grow the sports industry to almost US$700 billion by 2025, from less than US$200 billion in 2014.