Luan's loss doesn't damper adulation

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http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/sports/beijing2008/story.html?id=3a502489-0b9b-4fce-a0dd-b0256e3b5059

Luan's loss doesn't damper adulation

Bob Duff, Canwest News Service
Published: Sunday, August 10, 2008

"Jyah-ho . . . jyah-ho. . ."

Let's go.

A packed house at the Beijing National Fencing Hall wouldn't stop shouting this popular Chinese phrase.

They chanted. They cheered.

They welcomed their conquering hero home.

Generally, a second-round exit at the Olympic Games isn't cause for celebration, but even though Edmonton's Jujie Luan lost 15-7 to Hungary's Aida Mohamed in the round of 32 in the women's individual foil event, nothing was going to wipe the smile off her face.

Luan, 50, who won the gold medal in this event at 1984 Summer Games for her native China, turning her into a national icon in her homeland, emigrated to Canada in 1989. She came out of retirement last year in order to earn a spot on the Canadian Olympic team, seeking the chance to compete in an Olympiad in her birth country while representing her adopted country.

"This was a very special day for me," Luan said. "I'm so happy to be here in Beijing. Everybody was calling my name. They still remember me."

The adulation was non-stop.

As Luan competed, a throng of Chinese media documented her every move. Other fencers bowed in reverence to her legend.

"She is my idol," Chinese foil competitor Sun Chao said. "She is still fencing at 50 years old.

"I respect her a lot."

It wasn't only the Chinese whose jaws dropped in awe in Luan's presence.

"I think Luan is a real legend," said fellow foil competitor Shaimaa El Gammal of Egypt, 28. "I can't believe she's really doing this. I admire her, but I don't think I would follow her example. This is going to be my last Olympics."

If it is Luan's last Olympics, which would seem likely, it was definitely her favourite.

Her gold-medal win in Los Angeles was about the hardware. This one was about the heart.

"This was very special to me," she said. "Nineteen eighty-four was in L.A., so not many people travelled there to see it. Today was back home."

A four-time Olympian - 1984-88 with China and 2000 with Canada besides these Games - Luan opened her day with a solid 13-9 decision over Innes Boubakri of Tunisia, but simply couldn't turn back the clock far enough to match the speed of Mohamed, the fourth-place finisher in the 2004 Athens Summer Games.

"She was fast," Luan said.

Afterward, Luan took the opportunity to praise her homeland for the role China played in her ability to earn the trip to Beijing.

"I left China 20 years ago," she said. "They pay everything for me, I travelled everywhere. They make me good. That's why 24 years later, I can come back. I still have the technique that they taught me.

"I don't have a chance to say, 'Thank you' then, so this was a good chance for me to say, 'Thank you.'"

Seated next to her husband Dajin, Luan turned toward him and smiled.

"When I first said I wanted to try to go to the Beijing Olympic Games, my husband said, 'Do it, there's nothing to lose," she said. "For the last 15 months while I've been training and competing, he's taken care of our three kids. He makes me relax, he gives me so much confidence. Thank you very much. Thank you."

Add Dajin to the list of those awed by his wife's achievement.

"I feel great," he said. "She gave a wonderful performance."

Luan plans to open a fencing school in Shanghai, but intends to remain a Canadian.

"The first 30 years of my life were for China and the last 20 years were for Canada," she said. "The next 20 or 30 years, maybe I'll do half and half."

As for her immediate future, Luan plans to spend a week visiting with family in her hometown of Nanjing, then it's back to Edmonton to prepare for her next competition, the Canadian masters' championship.

"I didn't win here," she said. "Hopefully, I'll win the next one."