Yang Yang, China's trailblazing Winter Olympic champion, emphasized that sports can and should play a far greater role beyond elite competition, particularly in creating opportunities and driving empowerment of women and girls worldwide.
Reflecting on her own journey from champion speed skater to global sports advocate, Yang articulated a vision of sports as a transformative force in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) ahead of the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women, which is scheduled to take place in Beijing from Oct. 13 to 14.
"I think sports really give me the opportunity of not only winning the medals, but also gaining the quality or sportsmanship from my experience. And later on, after I retired, I also donated my last medal, which is bronze, prize money to one of my role models who funded a sports charity in Africa to promote, especially helping the young kids' education in sports. So I donated my prize money, then I got opportunity to visit in Ethiopia, the program. Then I learned sports is not only about elite sports, it's not only about winning or lose. It's also a part of life, it's also part of giving the hope to the people who need hope, who need help, also part of health. It's many areas, actually, sports can play a big role," said Yang, who is also a Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Yang's commitment brought her to a refugee camp in Ethiopia near the Sudan border not long ago, where she witnessed firsthand the potential of sports to uplift vulnerable communities, particularly women.
"Actually, I just came back from a refugee camp visit two weeks ago in Ethiopia, near the border of Sudan. So every time I visit, it gave me a lot of thoughts, very touch, moved or heartful feeling, especially on the women there. I give you a number that 76 percent of refugees are women and kids. So you can imagine, if we can empower those women, the situation for the refugees can make difference. So, yeah, so sports really give them an opportunity, but I also learned sports can do more other than winning and lose," she said.
Yang made history at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics by winning China's first gold medal in the women's 500-meter short track speed skating final.
She racked up 59 world championships in a glittering career. Since retiring, she has devoted herself to sports and public welfare, serving as a member of the International Olympic Committee and vice president of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Olympic champion Yang Yang on women's empowerment
