Name: Yang Yaozu
Sport: Sprinting
Date of Birth: January 9, 1981
Home: Shanghai
Height: 1.87 meters
Weight: 75 kg
Experience:
1992: Shanghai Sports School
1998: Shanghai Athletic Team
2002: Selected for the national athletic team
Major Achievements:
1999 National Athletic Championships: First, men's 200 meters
2001 The Ninth National Games: Third, men's 200 meters
2002 Pusan Asian Games: Third, men's 200 meters
2002 National Athletic Championships & Grand Prix: First, men's 200 meters
2002 National Athletic Grand Prix, Nanning: Second, men's 200 meters
2003 National Athletic Grand Prix, Nanning: Second, men's 100 meters
2004 Olympic Games: Qualified for the second round of the men's 200 meters
2005 National Games: First, men's 200 meters
2006 Athletic World Cup: Sixth, men's 100 meters
Major Records:
In 2000, at the National Youth Athletic Championships, Yang Yaozu ran the 200 in 20.86 seconds, setting national youth record.
At the 2004 Olympic Games, Yang Yaozu made it to the second round of the 200 meters with a time of 20.69 seconds. He became the first Chinese runner to get past the first round of the 200 at the Olympics.
He shows his unconventional side by wearing sunglasses during races, even at night, something not common among Chinese athletes.
"I'm used to running with sunglasses, because of the glare of the sunlight during the day and the stadium light at night," said Yang. He said that he always wore the sunglasses while training in the US.
"Actually, a lot of American runners wore sunglasses. Why couldn't I do the same?" he said. "It's something that people need to get used to, like I am now."
Yang Yaozu worshipped the Namibian runner Frankie Fredericks, who ran in the 2004 Olympics when he was 36 years old, and was one of the most consistent and successful sprinters in history.
"I want to be like Fredericks in the future and I'll try my best to become like him." Yang said.
He added that he once spent six months training in the US, so he could learn from their regimen. "There's still a gap between the Americans and us in training. I'm now adapting and my coach is also adjusting training methods," Yang said. "I really hope that our efforts will make a difference at the 2008 Olympics."
An Olympic championship may be the ultimate goal for all athletes, but Yang's ambition is larger than that.
"I won't be satisfied by just one championship," he said. "I want a Chinese name to go down in world sprinting history!"
(China.org.cn June 24, 2008)