Yuan Weimin
Yuan Weimin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Chinese | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | (1939-07-08) 8 July 1939 (age 85) Suzhou, Jiangsu, China | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Hometown | Suzhou, Jiangsu, China | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Honours
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Yuan Weimin (simplified Chinese: 袁伟民; traditional Chinese: 袁偉民; pinyin: Yuán Wěimín; born 8 July 1939, in Suzhou, Jiangsu) is a Chinese sports administrator and civil servant. He was the Executive President of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Player career
Yuan was selected to represent Jiangsu province in the volleyball competition of the first National Games in 1958 while studying at Nanjing Sport Institute. In 1962, he joined the national volleyball team.[citation needed]
Cultural Revolution hit when he was at his peak. While he was not persecuted because of his peasant background which was considered politically reliable at the time, his team members were sent home. Yuan spent much of his time studying volleyball coaching, without a team to coach. Yuan retired as a player in 1974 from the position of national team captain.[citation needed]
Managerial career
In 1976, Yuan was appointed head coach of the women's national volleyball team. His task was to restore the team to pre-Cultural Revolution-level. He did more than that, transforming a team from a 16th place finish in the 1974 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship to a super power, winning the 1981 World Cup, the 1982 world championship and the 1984 Olympic gold medal.[citation needed]
Yuan was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2007.[1]
Political career
Yuan became a national hero after winning gold medal in the Olympics. His book My Way of Teaching was a sellout. Volleyball terms were quoted in household conversation. Yuan was promoted to vice-minister of the Sports Commission at age 36, and was elected as a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1985. In 2000, Yuan was promoted to director general of the Chinese General Administration of Sports and chairman of the Chinese Olympic Committee.[citation needed]
Yuan was appointed to lead the Chinese Football Association after the disastrous 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification finish. He resigned in 1989 after the national Olympic team went goalless in the 1988 Olympics, but was brought back after his replacement Nian Weisi resigned following another failure in the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification AFC Final Round. Yuan chaired the association until 2004.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Yuan inducted into Volleyball Hall of Fame, Xinhua News
External links
- International Volleyball Hall of Fame Profile
Government offices | ||
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Preceded by | Director General of the Chinese General Administration of Sports 2000 – 2004 | Succeeded by Liu Peng |
Preceded by | Chairperson of the Chinese Olympic Committee 2000 – 2005 | Succeeded by Liu Peng |
Preceded by | Chairperson of the Chinese Football Association 1985 – 1989 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Chairperson of the Chinese Football Association 1992 – 2005 | Succeeded by Liu Peng |
Preceded by | President of the Asian Volleyball Confederation 1997 – 2001 | Succeeded by Wei Jizhong |
Preceded by Xu Cai | President of the Wushu Federation of Asia 1994 – 2000 | Succeeded by |