Standing at 6 feet 10 inches with a strong build, he walked at the front of the team, holding the Five-star Red Flag high. The emotions in his heart were indescribable. He was willing to trade even a championship for this opportunity. Anyway, he had plenty of championships.
The Olympics come once every four years, and representing the country, holding the Five-star Red Flag, is an irreplaceable memory.
A close-up of Gan Guoyang appeared on the live television broadcast, becoming an important moment in China’s Olympic history.
At the opening ceremony, famous singer Sarah Brightman and tenor Jose Carreras performed the song "Amigos Para Siempre" created by Andrew Webber and Don Black live.
The originally scheduled song for the Olympics was "Barcelona," by Queen’s lead singer Freddie Mercury. However, Mercury passed away from AIDS last year, so a recorded version of the song was played on site.
At the most exciting moment of the flame lighting ceremony, para-archer Rebello lit the main torch with an arrow, becoming one of the classic lighting methods in Olympic history.
The first match of the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team is scheduled for July 26, the day after the opening ceremony.
Their opponent is Lithuania, a team that recently gained independence and is participating in the Olympics for the first time.
For Gan Guoyang, the basketball group draw this time was lucky, as they were placed in Group B, not with Team USA.
This made Gan Guoyang very happy, which in turn made the Dream Team members very dissatisfied, as it meant they wouldn’t have the chance to thrash the China Team and Ah Gan in the group stage.
If the two teams are to meet, it would have to be in the knockout rounds.
The game is scheduled for 11:30 AM at the Badalona Sports Center.
This is the second match of the day. The first was Venezuela against the CIS, with Russia leading the former Soviet republics, who still maintain their strong prowess, easily defeating Venezuela by 12 points.
By 11:00, the game was about to begin, and the players of both teams were warming up on the court.
At this time, Gan Guoyang was chatting with Sabonis on the sidelines.
Sabonis was wearing a rather peculiar, unique sports T-shirt.
The main color was green, with tie-dyed fabric, brightly colored, even with a skull printed on it.
It was hard to imagine this was a national team uniform.
"Is this the outfit designed for you by Grateful Dead? Oh my... this is the coolest jersey I’ve ever seen, it’s amazing, Arvydas... except for the skull..."
Gan Guoyang expressed his admiration for Sabonis’s outfit, though he wouldn’t wear it himself, finding it too flamboyant.
"That’s the style of Grateful Dead. Thanks for your help, Sonny, but on the court, I won’t hold back!" Sabonis said.
Gan Guoyang thought to himself, damn, once they join the national team, everyone becomes so cocky!
Ultimately, it was because the China Team was too weak. Even with Ah Gan, they were still underestimated.
Sabonis thanked Gan Guoyang because the Lithuanian Men’s Basketball Team’s participation in this Olympics had his support.
In the past, Lithuanian players represented the Soviet Union in major competitions. At the 1988 Olympics, four out of the five starters on the Soviet Team were Lithuanian players.
After Lithuania’s independence, although the country’s people gained freedom, the society was in chaos, the government was financially bankrupt, and the sports department had no money to form an Olympic team to participate in the Olympics.
Under such circumstances, Sabonis, who played in the NBA with a high salary, took out some of his own money to support the Lithuanian Men’s Basketball Team to compete in Barcelona.
But his salary wasn’t enough, so Gan Guoyang, as well as Trail Blazers legend Bill Walton, and Walton’s old friends, the basketball-loving Grateful Dead band, all offered support.
They contributed a large sum of money to support the Lithuanian Men’s Basketball Team’s training, games, travel, and all expenses to compete in Barcelona.
The Grateful Dead band specially designed this wild, rock-style sports T-shirt for the Lithuanian Men’s Basketball Team, making them a standout when they appeared in Barcelona, attracting fans’ attention.
Spanish fans loved this style, but China’s head coach Jiang Xingquan couldn’t quite understand it. He was a very conservative person.
Before the game started, he complained to Gan Guoyang: "Why is this Lithuanian wearing a T-shirt with a skull? That thing’s unlucky; does it mean they’re already dead?"
Gan Guoyang quickly replied: "Hey, Coach Jiang, that’s what you said! The Lithuanians are already dead! We’re bound to win this game!"
Jiang Xingquan quickly waved his hands, saying: "That’s not what I meant, no, no, don’t say that."
The entire Chinese Men’s Basketball Team, all the players, especially the young ones, were quite afraid of Jiang Xingquan.
Usually during practice or in life, they wouldn’t dare to joke with Coach Jiang.
They knew Jiang Xingquan’s character, being extremely conservative and strict.
If you joke with him and anger him, he’d really get mad at you.
Only a top figure like Gan Guoyang dared to joke with Coach Jiang.
He could say anything he wanted, a privilege even veteran national team players didn’t have.
"Don’t worry, Lithuania probably won’t die tonight. We agreed before the game that we’d use this match to train, winning is best, but losing isn’t shameful."
Gan Guoyang patted Lao Jiang on the shoulder, and Jiang Xingquan sighed to himself. He really wasn’t used to Ah Gan’s playful character.
However, Gan Guoyang’s skills on the court were top-notch, and his tactical thinking was very sharp and advanced. Frankly speaking, Jiang Xingquan felt that in many aspects, he was not as good as him.