Ge Fei's sports career makes for a legendary story in the history of badminton doubles.
Ge Fei at the National People's Congress session this year. [China Daily] |
In the late 1990s, Ge and her partner Gu Jun dominated the world of women's doubles in almost all international matches.
Now, as an administrator at a local sports bureau, Ge is promoting healthy living for the masses.
"Hosting the Olympic Games in 2008 is a good opportunity to spread the Olympic spirit," said the 32-year-old at the annual National People's Congress last month.
"One of my proposals for the congress this year is to list 'leading a healthy way of life' as a basic national policy," the newly elected NPC deputy said.
After picking up a badminton racket before she hit double figures in 1985, Ge teamed up with Gu two years later in the Jiangsu provincial team. At the end of 1993, the young duo entered the national team together and started to dominate the court.
At the 1996 Atlanta Games, they claimed the first Olympic gold medal for the Chinese badminton team.
En route to the gold medal, the pair outscored the four teams they met by 120 to 39 points. In the final, they met with reigning world champion Gil Young-ah and Jang Hye-ock from South Korea. Before that, the two sides had met 10 times with Ge and Gu holding a 6-4 advantage.
In Atlanta, the Chinese pair played a perfect match to win by 15-5, 15-5 in 36 minutes.
"The 1996 Games was my first Olympics and everything was new," Ge recalled. "I didn't feel nervous until the final. But I reminded myself that I needed to relax to strive for gold and in the end we played the perfect game."
Ge and Gu continued their doubles dominance between Olympics.
After Atlanta, they won the World Grand Prix final and the World Cup. In 1997, they swept through the World Championships, All-England Open, the Korea, Japan, Swiss, Malaysian and China Opens and the Singapore Cup, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Sudirman Cup.
In 1998, they won another string of events, including the Asian Championships, and, in 1999, they added their second World Championship crown. In 2000, they won another All-England Open title.
The pair went unbeaten for four and a half years until compatriots Yang Wei and Huang Nanyan upset them at the Japan Open in April 2000.
Ge, who is good at playing close to the net, also achieved much success in mixed doubles with Liu Yong.
They stepped onto the highest podium on their debut at the South Korea Open in 1997. This was also the first mixed doubles gold for China's badminton team in a decade. They were almost unbeatable in 1997, registering only one loss.
"Ge's talent at doubles is something we haven't seen in the last 10 years," said former national team coach Jiang Yongyi.
But a heavy burden nearly spoilt her second trip to the Olympics.
