'Renegade' tennis star Li Na flies home to controversy
Tennis star who quit national team comes home to a mixed reception of admirers, critics and officials eager to bask in glow of Aussie win
Fresh from her Australian Open championship victory, tennis star Li Na received a hero’s welcome in her hometown of Wuhan city, Hubei province on Tuesday.
But she also arrived to a state press and central government aggrandising the Chinese athletic system for producing a star such as Li – despite the fact she clinched last weekend’s women’s championship title several years after leaving the national team.
The country took care of Li and cultivated her. The state is her sponsor
Li, now worth an estimated US$40 million after her win, was greeted at the airport by the Hubei vice-governor on Monday and was later given a cheque for 800,000 yuan (HK$1.02 million) by the provincial party boss Li Hongzhong, who praised her for bringing glory to the homeland.
Li, 31, is the oldest since 1973 to win the women’s championship.
The official Xinhua News Agency said that Li Na owed her success to her experience on the national team, although the grand-slam athlete quit the state sports system in 2008.
In a piece titled “Why Did Li Succeed?”, Xinhua credits years of state training for Li’s triumph. “The country took care of Li and cultivated her. The state is her sponsor,” the article said.