Tennis star statue stays, insists hometown
Source: Xinhua |
March 21, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TENNIS player Li Na's hometown has denied it has plans to remove a bronze statue of her from the local "Walk of Fame," amid controversy after the outspoken star said she plays for herself, not her country.
"It's a groundless rumor and the statue will stay," said Hu Zhijun, administrator of the Hankou Bund Park, a tourist destination in Wuhan City, Hubei Province.
Wuhan's Walk of Fame, on the bank of the Yangtze River, consists of 13 statues of world and Olympic champions who were born in the province.
Li attended the unveiling of her statue last year, after becoming the first Asian tennis player to win a singles Grand Slam title at the French Open.
But a posting forwarded thousands of times on microblogging site Weibo.com said Wuhan had decided to remove the statue due to the "harmful effect" of Li's comment.
"I always believe if you lie one time you have to use 10 times to recover that one lie. So I didn't want to do that," Li said last week.
"I know if I say real things many people will hate me. But it doesn't matter. I'm happy."
"I'm only a tennis athlete," She added. "I'm not here for the country. I just play my tennis. I am just doing my job to try the best."
Among Chinese athletes, Li is a rare personality, who speaks fluent English and appears comfortable in front of the international press.
She is also well known for seldom mincing her words. She once complained to reporters about her husband's loud snoring before major matches and asked a chair umpire to tell excited fans to keep quiet.
But what she said this time sparked a wave of criticism and controversy in China. Some say that she lacks love for her country and she could not have achieved her success without training on the provincial and national teams in the past.
But others said "playing tennis is Li Na's job and we all do our jobs for ourselves".
Li joined the national team in 1999 and quit the state-run training system and started to train on her own in late 2008.
"It's a groundless rumor and the statue will stay," said Hu Zhijun, administrator of the Hankou Bund Park, a tourist destination in Wuhan City, Hubei Province.
Wuhan's Walk of Fame, on the bank of the Yangtze River, consists of 13 statues of world and Olympic champions who were born in the province.
Li attended the unveiling of her statue last year, after becoming the first Asian tennis player to win a singles Grand Slam title at the French Open.
But a posting forwarded thousands of times on microblogging site Weibo.com said Wuhan had decided to remove the statue due to the "harmful effect" of Li's comment.
"I always believe if you lie one time you have to use 10 times to recover that one lie. So I didn't want to do that," Li said last week.
"I know if I say real things many people will hate me. But it doesn't matter. I'm happy."
"I'm only a tennis athlete," She added. "I'm not here for the country. I just play my tennis. I am just doing my job to try the best."
Among Chinese athletes, Li is a rare personality, who speaks fluent English and appears comfortable in front of the international press.
She is also well known for seldom mincing her words. She once complained to reporters about her husband's loud snoring before major matches and asked a chair umpire to tell excited fans to keep quiet.
But what she said this time sparked a wave of criticism and controversy in China. Some say that she lacks love for her country and she could not have achieved her success without training on the provincial and national teams in the past.
But others said "playing tennis is Li Na's job and we all do our jobs for ourselves".
Li joined the national team in 1999 and quit the state-run training system and started to train on her own in late 2008.
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