【Editor’s Note: Mr. Andy Richardson, a sports reporter from Al Jazeera English known for his previous coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, came to Hangzhou for the first time to report on the 19th Asian Games. During his stay, he visited Zhejiang University twice, conducting the interviews with both the Dragon Boat Team and Track and Field Team. Impressively, Andy recognized the university's exceptional blend of sports and education, a rare find compared to the UK's academic-centric universities. In addition to engaging with ZJU’s students and faculty, he graciously accepted interviews conducted by Zhejiang University, further enhancing the exchange of perspectives.】
Quotes from the interview with Andy Richarson
- I'll tell you what impressed me: at the start of this event, we knew that it was going to break records in terms of the number of athletes involved, with more than 12,000 athletes here in Hangzhou. Organizing them, providing meals, finding them a place to sleep, and getting everything organized was a monumental task. As well as being hugely impressive in terms of numbers, this event is even larger in terms of sports and athletes than the Paris games next year.
- I think it's really good that these students at this age have that balance in their life between sports and education. I think that gives them a good future, whether it's in sports or something else in life. The students we've spoken to, both in the Dragon Boat Team and in the Track and Field Team, are polite, courteous, and clearly well-educated.
-The best thing I can say is that I have an 8-year-old boy who loves sports and education. We were talking after we'd been filming for the dragon boat, and we said, 'One day, it would be nice if my little boy could come to a university as good as this,' because the young men and women that we've spoken to are hugely impressive and are a credit to the university.
- When I knew I was coming to the Asian Games, we did a lot of research into the city, and Zhejiang University was definitely one of the websites that we looked into. That's why we're interested in coming here. It's obviously a challenge when I come here, and I don't speak Chinese, so having a resource in Hangzhou with an English language service was very helpful.