Olympics 2008

China have come a long way in the 76 years since Liu Changchun became their first athlete to compete at an Olympic Games.

Liu was, in fact, the only Chinese athlete to compete at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics and he defied theJapanese occupiers of his homeland to do so.

Japan began its occupation of north-eastern China in 1931, created a puppet state called Manchukuo, and wanted Liu to represent it at the Olympics.

Liu refused and won the support of General Zhang Xueliang, president of northeast university, who said he would financially support the sprinter to represent China at the Olympics.

And so Liu, who was the national 100m, 200m and 400m champion set sail for Los Angeles from Shanghai.

A 20-day sea voyage did not provide the ideal preparation though and, despite boasting a personal best of 10.6 seconds in the 100m that put him on a par with other competitors, Liu failed to advance past the heats. He was also eliminated in the first round of the 200m.

General Zhang's donation of $1,000 had also dwindled leaving Liu with no alternative but to ask for donations from the local Chinese community in Los Angeles to pay for his trip home.

He was greeted on his return by joyous crowds, but the Japanese wanted to arrest him for not representing Manchukuo.

Liu's story has been inspirational to thousands of Chinese sports stars and a film that tells his story and marks the 75th anniversary of his achievement, called 'The One', was commissioned in 2007.

Today's discussion? Sports stars that have inspired you. Who influenced you to take up sport?