| Yuan Weimin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1939-07-08)8 July 1939 (age 86) Suzhou,Jiangsu,China | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hometown | Suzhou,Jiangsu,China | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Honours
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Yuan Weimin (simplified Chinese:袁伟民;traditional Chinese:袁偉民;pinyin:Yuán Wěimín; born 8 July 1939, inSuzhou,Jiangsu) is aChinese sports administrator andcivil servant. He was the Executive President of theBeijing Organizing Committee for the2008 Summer Olympics.
Yuan was selected to represent Jiangsu province in the volleyball competition of the firstNational Games in 1958 while studying atNanjing Sport Institute. In 1962, he joined thenational volleyball team.[citation needed]
Cultural Revolution hit when he was at his peak. While he was not persecuted because of his peasant background which was considered politically reliable at the time, his team members were sent home. Yuan spent much of his time studying volleyball coaching, without a team to coach. Yuan retired as a player in 1974 from the position of national team captain.[citation needed]
In 1976, Yuan was appointed head coach of thewomen's national volleyball team. His task was to restore the team to pre-Cultural Revolution-level. He did more than that, transforming a team from a 16th place finish in the1974 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship to a super power, winning the1981 World Cup, the1982 world championship and the1984 Olympic gold medal.[citation needed]
Yuan was inducted into theInternational Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2007.[1]
Yuan became a national hero after winning gold medal in the Olympics. His bookMy Way of Teaching was a sellout. Volleyball terms were quoted in household conversation. Yuan was promoted to vice-minister of the Sports Commission at age 36, and was elected as a candidate member of theCentral Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1985. In 2000, Yuan was promoted to director general of the Chinese General Administration of Sports and chairman of theChinese Olympic Committee.[citation needed]
Yuan was appointed to lead theChinese Football Association after the disastrous1986 FIFA World Cup qualification finish. He resigned in 1989 after thenational Olympic team went goalless inthe 1988 Olympics, but was brought back after his replacementNian Weisi resigned following another failure in the1990 FIFA World Cup qualification AFC Final Round. Yuan chaired the association until 2004.[citation needed]
| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Director General of the Chinese General Administration of Sports 2000 – 2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairperson of theChinese Olympic Committee 2000 – 2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairperson of theChinese Football Association 1985 – 1989 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairperson of theChinese Football Association 1992 – 2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of theAsian Volleyball Confederation 1997 – 2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of theWushu Federation of Asia 1994 – 2000 | Succeeded by |
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