NonFicWriMo #19: Sang Lan

Throughout the second half of the 20th century, eastern European countries dominated gymnastics at the international level. The Soviet Union was renowned for its training centers that consistently turned out prize-winning gymnasts, but when the government dissolved in the early 1990s another Communist country was given the opportunity to showcase its gymnasts. Chinese gymnasts such as Yang Bo, Liu Xuan, and Mo Huilan paved the way for younger gymnasts to achieve great recognition on the international stage. One such young gymnast was Sang Lan, but her dream was shattered.

Born on June 11, 1981, Sang Lan grew up in the city of Ningbo, in China’s Zhejiang province. The child of a building manager and a factory worker, she began gymnastics at the age of six and by age eight she was recognized as one of the country’s up-and-coming talents. In China, this means moving to live at a gymnastics school full-time, resulting in a separation between parents and children.

In 1991, Sang took top place at every event in the Zhejiang provincial competition, including the all-around. Her skills were strongest in the vault, and in 1995 she came in second in that event at the Chinese nationals. Her first international meet was the American Cup in 1996, where she placed seventh in the all-around competition. That same year, she again won second place in vault in the Chinese nationals, but in 1997 she made the event her own with a first-place win. She lost that title the following year, coming in second, but was placed on the Chinese national team for the 1998 Goodwill Games.

Established by entertainment mogul Ted Turner following the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Olympics and the Soviet boycott of the 1984 Olympics, the Goodwill Games were held in Moscow in 1986 and in Seattle in 1990. The 1994 contest went back to Russia, and in 1998 the Goodwill Games were being held in New York City. Sang Lan ended up spending much more time in the New York area than she had planned.

During practice on her best event, Sang executed a handspring timer vault - a fairly basic move, one she had done many times, that was used only for warmups and was too simple for competition. This time, though, Sang had more forward momentum than she intended. She over-rotated off the horse and landed headfirst on the mat, with a crunch audible to spectators. She had fractured her spine at the C6-C7 level, and was taken immediately to the nearest hospital, where she received intravenous methylprednisone for 48 hours. The drug is primarily an anti-inflammatory, but research has shown that spinal cord injury patients typically recover 20% of their lost function if the methylprednisone is given immediately after the accident.

Sang’s accident happened on July 21st, and on July 25th she went into surgery for several hours to have her spine fused. Ten days after the accident, she was transferred to Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan to begin physical therapy. Because of the level at which she was paralyzed, the primary target for therapy was her arms and hands. She had minimal usage of them following the accident, but through therapy she was able to regain control of her arms and some function in her hands.

While she was in rehab at Mount Sinai, Sang Lan became famous in the United States. Her favorite movie at the time was Titanic, and she expressed an interest in meeting Leonardo DiCaprio - who turned up in her hospital room for an hour to pose for pictures and sign autographs. She was also visited by Celine Dion, who sang the movie’s theme song for those assembled in Sang’s room, and actor Christopher Reeve. As she recovered, she had visitors from New York’s Chinese community, including Alice Lee and Winston Sie, teenagers close to Sang’s age. Sang’s parents, whom she had not seen frequently since going to gymnastics school as a child, flew from China to be with her full-time. In early October, Sang left the hospital and moved in with Gina Liu, the vice-president of the Chinese Gymnastics Association, who maintained homes in New York and Beijing. Americans continued to support her, contributing $70,000 to a charity fund that would help pay for her food, clothing, interpreters, and other essentials.

In addition to her physical therapy, Sang received injections of Sygen, a drug manufactured by Fidia Pharmaceuticals, that had been shown in studies to assist in regrowth of nerve fibers. The early clinical trials for Sygen had included a New York Jets football player, who was eventually able to walk unassisted and who visited Sang during her rehabilitation. Although Sygen was not yet approved for sale, government and hospital officials approved it for Sang - but following the six-week course of treatment, doctors were still not optimistic about her regaining the ability to walk.

Ten months after the accident, Sang Lan returned home to China with her parents. An apartment in Beijing was provided for her by the government, and she was able to realize a lifelong dream: attending college. Today she is a journalism student at Beijing University, but that is not her only exposure to journalism. She has been signed by Star TV (a Chinese network owned in part by Rupert Murdoch) to host a sports-related television show called “Sang Lan Olympics 2008.” Sang has also returned to sporting competitions herself - this time as a table tennis player. Nike, who is working with her to increase disability awareness in China, renovated the Shanghai International Gymnastics Center to be wheelchair accessible, and Sang competed there in the Far East and South Pacific Table Tennis Championship for the Disabled. She was involved with the bid campaign that awarded Beijing the 2008 Olympics, and she is hoping to compete as a table tennis player in that year’s Paralympics. She has also participated in events of the China Disabled Persons’ Performing Arts Troupe.

The outlook for Sang to walk again still does not look good. She has use of her arms and some use of her hands, but her finger dexterity is not what it once was. Through it all, though, she has shown courage and determination, and great things may still be ahead for the former gymnast.

Essay word count: 1041
Additional resources: A Tribute to Sang Lan, China Disabled Persons’ Performing Arts Troupe.
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