Word: golds
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...communist equality.) But China has changed, and a decent backhand is now considered de rigueur among many progeny of the Chinese elite. There's also the matter of international glory: Like dozens of other sports, tennis was targeted by the country's sports czars as a possible manufacturer of gold medals and world titles. In the 1990s, China poured money into tennis, siphoning off promising players, like Li, from an already dominant badminton program...
...plan seems to be working. In the 2004 Athens Games, a Chinese women's pair brought home a surprise gold. Two years later, at the Australian Open, Yan and Zheng claimed the country's first Grand Slam title. Then came Wimbledon, when the diminutive Zheng made it to the semi-finals as a wildcard before succumbing to the younger Williams sister. Zheng, a native of Sichuan province, which was rocked by the May earthquake, donated her Wimbledon prize money to the reconstruction effort...
...Shannon Miller, and 2004 Olympic all-around champion Patterson. These are powerful athletes who don't look as if they would snap with a wrong turn around the uneven bars. "Traditionally, the long and lean gymnasts have lost out to the more solid ones," says Bart Conner, 1984 Olympic gold medalist. "Because the leaner gymnasts don't have the stability to stick the landings. But that didn't happen this time...
...Midwest just weeks before the Olympic trials, Liukin text messaged Johnson offering to help. "She is one of my best friends, and we just want the best for each other," said Johnson after the all-around. "I couldn't be any more proud of Nastia; she deserved the gold today...
...Liukin can rest assured that her gold medal was fully deserved, after a flawless competition and against an equally aggressive rival. But as meaningful as the medal is for Liukin, it might be an even sweeter victory for her father. Twenty years ago, in another heated battle between teammates, Valeri Liukin, competing for Russia, lost the 1988 men's all-around Olympic title in Seoul to Vladimir Artyomov. "She fixed my mistake," said her father. "I was second, half a tenth behind Vladimir, and she fixed that. I am very proud," he said, too emotional to continue. Liukin senior might...