When 19-year-old weightlifter Zulfiya Chinshanlo won an Olympics gold medal for Kazakhstan on Monday, her feat was met with disappointment by some in China for what could have been their victory. Her success was also met with questions about her nationality as Chinese media reported Chinshanlo to be a Chinese national. According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, she was born and raised in Yongzhou, Hunan province under the Chinese name Zhao Changling. Xinhua quoted a Hunan provincial sports bureau official, Zhou Junfu, as stating before the London Olympics that Chinshanlo was the same person as Zhao Changling who had been transferred by the bureau to the Kazakhstan team in 2008.
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Weightlifter Zulfiya Chinshanlo won Olympics gold medal for Kazakhstan
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Chinese media reported she was born and raised in Hunan province under a Chinese name
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Hunan provincial sports bureau said she was transferred to Kazakhstan team in 2008
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Many other athletes have left China to seek Olympic glory abroad
Zhou recalled that during a training exchange in March 2007 in Hunan's capital city, Kazakhstan's weightlifting team expressed interest in having Chinshanlo live in @placeholder and represent the country at competitions.
Chinshanlo was described by Xinhua as a fluent @placeholder speaker, but unwilling to address questions relating to China, including when she left China and where her family is located.
But she was apparently willing to comment on whether she missed Chinese food, saying she missed glutinous rice cakes -- evidence, Xinhua said, that she appreciates @placeholder cuisine and has a "Chinese stomach."