SPORTS> Feature and Column
Olympics-He nears fulfillment of life's work
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-08-09 10:48

"We could not tolerate that, so we protested and they just ignored our protests and we had to withdraw.

"In 1958 came the total severance of our relations."

As for many in China, the 1960s were not a happy time for He.

"In the Cultural Revolution ... I was put aside from my work from 1966 to 1971, including two years of agricultural labour and another year or so of physical labour," he recalled.

"Sport in China was seriously damaged, we lost at least one and a half generations of athletes."

He was recalled to the sports administration in 1971 just as China took its seat at the United Nations.

"So many, many friends in the sports organisations, they think, we cannot call ourself international without the participation of China," He said.

In 1972, Lord Killanin replaced Brundage.

"Lord Killanin sympathised very much with our desire," He said. "He said, 'to solve this question, we need evolution, not revolution. Evolution needs time'."

DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

In 1979, the Chinese central government changed its position towards the island from "liberation" to "peaceful reunification" and the U.S. finally established diplomatic relations with Beijing.

After several IOC meetings and court cases, the People's Republic of China was finally accepted back into the Olympic fold.

A Chinese team went to the Lake Placid Winter Games in 1980 but the return to the Summer Games at Moscow the same year was stymied by the boycott in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afganistan.

"I felt a little bit sorry that after many, many years of fighting and work, we had to stay at home," He said.

But China did return at Los Angeles four years later when the team brought home 15 gold medals.

By 1985, He was a member of the IOC's Executive Board and planning how to fulfil China's long-cherished dream of hosting a Games.