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An
official Olympic Cultural Event |
When: 4
and 5 August 2008
Where: Peking University, Beijing
On 4-5 August 2008, just prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympic
Games, Tony Blair opened the second What Makes a Champion? forum,
held at the prestigious Peking University in Beijing. |
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In this second What Makes a
Champion?™ forum, extraordinary individuals from
the East and West participated in three panels to distil
the essence of great accomplishment and especially to discuss
how culture and the society in which we live shape our approach
to championship - championship in the broadest sense across
all fields of endeavour.
These included Henry Kissinger, Tony Blair, IOC President
Jacques Rogge, Jackie Chan, Ian Thorpe, Lord Sebastian Coe,
Nobel Prize winner Hao Weimin, Oscar winner Tan Dun, International
Chopin Prize pianist Li Yundi, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Kevan
Gosper, Olympic Gold Medallists Yang Yang, Luo Xuejuan and
Lou Yun, corporate CEOs, acclaimed academics and many more.
In his opening address, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd,
in his opening remarks, welcomed the world to the Centre for
the Mind's second What Makes A Champion? forum in
Beijing. The Prime Minister also spoke briefly in Mandarin,
exhorting the participants to "work hard and do not give
up in the face of adversity." |
| In three facilitated panels of conversations,
questions and answers, some of the world’s greatest
champions talked about how it really is. Not just
the up side but the whole story. What makes them
go, what makes them win, what is hard and what comes easily?
Is championship is born or bred.? Is it transferable? Is
it shaped by culture and society? |
Acclaimed composer Tan Dun
with Allan Snyder
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What Makes a Champion?™ 2008 was jointly
organised by the Centre for the Mind and Peking University.
As an official Olympic Cultural Event, it was supported
by the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of
the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and the International Olympic
Committee (IOC). The forum was also the highlight of
Peking University's 110th anniversary celebrations. |
Olympian Ian
Thorpe speaks at What Makes a Champion? |
What Makes a Champion?™ 2008
Organising Committee
- Kevan Gosper -
Member,
International Olympic Committee
- Alex Hamill -
Media Manager,
Australian Olympic Team
- Zhenliang He -
Delegate,
International Olympic Committee
- Jiang Xiaoyu -
Executive Vice-President,
BOCOG
- Allan Snyder FRS -
Director, Centre for the Mind,
University of Sydney
- Zhihong Xu -
President,
Peking University
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What Makes a Champion? panel with former British Prime
Minister Tony Blair
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Sponsors
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