A friend of athletes, sports and China

The news that Juan Antonio Samaranch had been admitted to hospital on the morning of April 21 was ominous. The thought of my worst fear coming true paralyzed me momentarily as the radiant face of the almost 90-year-old flashed in front of me. I had met him just two months ago in Vancouver, Canada.

After attending the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Village in Vancouver I went to the athletes' canteen to have dinner. The lifetime honorary president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was there, too, and invited me to sit beside him. The patriarchal Samaranch was still a good talker and still had a good appetite. But sadly he was not as agile as before, though he asked me about my work and encouraged me to go ahead.

I first met Samaranch at the 41st World Table Tennis Championship in Japan in 1991. He watched the women's table tennis single final between me and a contestant from Democratic People's Republic of Korea. My aggressive game and 3:0 win impressed him, and as the IOC chief he awarded me the gold medal. But more than that, he invited me to visit the IOC headquarters.