John Ian Wing
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John Ian Wing (born c. 1939) is a British resident of Chinese descent. He was a student in Australia in 1956 when he wrote an anonymous letter to the International Olympic Committee suggesting the athletes from all countries mingle during the closing parade. His idea was used that Olympiad and has remained an Olympic tradition since that time.[1]
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[edit] Biography
[edit] 1956 Summer Olympics
Just days before the closing ceremony of the 1956 Summer Olympics at Melbourne, the Olympic committee received an anonymous letter. This letter encouraged the Olympics to do something they have never done before. It was a suggested idea that would bring all the athletes together as a symbol of global unity. The athletes must not march but walk freely and wave to the public during the closing ceremonies. That was exactly what had happened.
30 years later, a Chinese boy named, John Ian Wing, revealed himself to the world, that he had written the letter and became a hero of the Olympic Games. He became recognized as the first Chinese person to be awarded an Olympic medal, for his historic contribution to the Olympic Games. At the time of the letter, John Ian Wing, was a 17 year old apprentice carpenter. John did not state who he was because he wanted to remain anonymous due to being Chinese; he did not want to get in trouble from his parents. With all the media attention, he wrote a second letter, telling his name and address and why he wanted to be anonymous. John’s idea has become an Olympic tradition and the Melbourne Olympics became known as the “Friendly Games.”
[edit] References
- ^ Gordon, Harry. "The changing face of a dear-old arena", The Age, 2003-09-24. "Perhaps the greatest single contribution the 1956 Games made to the Olympic movement came from an anonymous Chinese boy, a 17-year-old apprentice carpenter who wrote cheekily to the organisers suggesting that the procession at the closing ceremony should not be a traditional march, with divided nations, but one joyous intermingled affair, with athletes from all nations linking arms and waving. The idea was adopted, and that is the way it has been since. That Chinese lad, later identified as John Ian Wing, changed the closing ceremony forever. On the 30th anniversary of the Games, through an essay in Time magazine, I played a role in finding him - living as a builder in England."
“Don't Write a Letter of Complaint... Offer a Solution!” DimSum. 20 Sept. 2007. The British Chinese Community Website. 5 Nov. 2007. http://www.dimsum.co.uk/viewpoints/dont-write-a-letter-of-complaint...-offer-a-solution.html
