China's Top 5 Feel-Good Sporting Stories of 2015

By THAT'S, December 23, 2015

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This is part of our China's 2015 in Review series. For more 2015 Sports Highlights, read a list of the biggest winners and losers of 2015 here and our interview with Shanghai SIPG Top Scorer Wu Lei here.

Because we all watch sports to feel better about the world, right?

1. Liu Hong walks to gold

Liu Hong

China’s only gold medal at the World Athletics Championships came in the ever-popular 20km walk. While very little of Liu’s impressive 1:27:45 performance made for pulsating viewing, she waddled into the Bird’s Nest to rapturous cheers before crossing the line in front of a home crowd.

2. Usain Bolt gets taken out by a Segway

Usain Bolt Segway accident

Sure, feel-good sporting moments should be about pushing physical limits and triumphing over adversity. But in this list, schadenfreude can trump all that. Usain Bolt getting wiped out at the Bird’s Nest by hapless Segway cameraman Song Tao was a gift from the gods of gifs. Endless replay value.

3. Li Na gives birth

Li Na gives birth

Given that Li Na has retired, this perhaps shouldn’t qualify. But she’s still sporting royalty. Plus, newborn Alisa was pretty cute, and pushing out a 3kg baby is probably harder work than winning a grand slam. The former tennis star also managed to amass another RMB75 million this year, according to Forbes. Quite the retirement.

4. Chen Penbin runs 100 marathons in 100 days

Chen Penbin

Marathons are hard. One hundred marathons, more so. So running one a day for 100 days may be an accurate description of hell. But 37-year-old former fisherman Chen Penbin seemed to have a permanent (though occasionally pained) smile on his face throughout the challenge. 

5. Ning Zetao’s abs

Ning Zetao

The 22-year-old may have won 100-meter freestyle gold in swimming’s 2015 FINA World Championships but it was Ning’s abs that went viral online. “We call handsome boys little fresh meat. But for special ones like Ning, he should be called little fresh fish,” wrote one Weibo user.

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