At the end of 2006, after several efforts, the International Olympic Committee finally agreed to hold martial arts competitions during the Beijing Olympic Games. This special care given by the International Olympic Committee has never been seen before.
It is an unwritten tradition for the host country to use the power of the host country to incorporate its traditional projects into the Olympic Games. In 1960, judo was selected for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. In 1988, Taekwondo appeared in Seoul as a performance event, and finally became a formal event in 2000.
The success of Beijing’s bid for the Olympic Games in 2001 made many people see the dawn of Wushu entering the Olympic Games. Soon, the International Wushu Federation formally put forward to the International Olympic Committee the idea that Wushu should be included in the Olympic Games. For this purpose, the State General Administration of Sport has set up a "Wushu Leading Group for Entering the Olympic Games".
However, in August 2002, the working meeting of the Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, rejected the proposal to include Wushu in the official Olympic events. According to Wang Xiaolin, the chairman of China Wushu Association, since the rule that the host set up a major event was abolished in 1996, Rogge has implemented the "slimming plan" since he took office, all of which have made the road of Wushu difficult. After 1988, the Olympic Games has cancelled performance events, which closed another door to the Olympic Games.
This sudden blow stunned Chinese Olympic Committee officials. The General Administration immediately ordered the working group to start emergency public relations work immediately.
In order to let IOC members know more about Wushu, the leading group has adopted a series of strong public relations. For example, during the meeting of the IOC Executive Committee, China organized a "Wushu Olympic Bid Group" with 56 members to Kuala Lumpur and hosted a banquet for the IOC Executive Committee and related personnel in the name of BOCOG. During the banquet, a martial arts performance was performed for about 30 minutes.
On the other hand, China keeps inviting IOC members to China to watch Wushu competitions. On August 9th this year, Rogge also went to Shaolin Temple to watch the martial arts performance of China national team.
After a lot of hard work and "at all costs", the International Olympic Committee no longer insisted on abolishing Wushu, and transferred the right to decide whether Wushu could be shortlisted for the Olympic Games to the Council of the Asian Olympic Committee. Only in this way can Wushu regain its vitality when it enters the Olympic Games.
Editor: Tian Shijia