Chinese Overwhelm Nbc

Kiu Yuanyuan is a wispy teenage gymnast from China whose given name translates literally to about “12 cents 12 cents.” “Yuan is the name of their currency,” explained NBC Sports producer David Michaels.

Michaels just returned from a trip to China, where he was shooting footage for Olympic features, and some of it could turn out to be priceless.

Michaels said that in the two weeks he spent there, he was given access “that I didn’t think would be possible,” including free run of the Chinese gymnastics training center and dormitories, as well as an open invitation to the homes of athletes’ parents.

“One of the things that I found surprising - and I’ve been to Russia and Romania and places like that - was that this wasn’t like your normal gymnastics practice,” Michaels said. “They were having fun.”

It was at a practice that Michaels and his crew met Kiu, a 15-year-old Chinese national floor exercise champion and anything but the little automaton you might have expected.

“We spent some time, shot her, it was kind of fun,” Michaels said. “Then, the next day we’re shooting around the training center, and she comes running across the parking lot and hands each member of the crew a piece of chocolate. She told our translator thank you, and then she says she was concerned we were working too hard and didn’t get enough to eat.

“An hour later, we were still shooting in front of the athletes’ dorm, and she comes out and gives us some lunch, this tofu kind of stuff.”

Not only did Michaels get to experience the hospitality of Chinese gymnastics officials and athletes, he also received a warm reception from some villagers in the community of Xiantao, near the Yangtzee River.

“The men’s all-around world champion, Li Xiaoshuang, lived in this little town, and they had never had any foreign journalists there,” Michaels said. “We were greeted by the mayor, the city council, their TV station and we took a little caravan over to his parents’ house.”

When Michaels’ crew arrived, there were 500 people waiting.

“I thought there’d been a traffic accident or something,” Michaels said. “So I asked what was going on. They were all there to see us. We might as well have dropped off from another planet.

“Two hours later, when we left the house, they were still there. They never left,” Michaels said.

Michaels’ crew also shot some tape of women’s allaround champion Mo Huilan. All this tape will be cut down and edited for use during the Olympics, “probably the night of the all-around,” Michaels said.

“We got so much good stuff. It’s just a matter of how many stories I can make out of it,” Michaels said. “Then, we’re off to Romania in about nine more days.”

Out takes

TransWorld International, the powerful TV arm of IMG, and Princeton Video Image have formed a marketing alliance, apparently giving Princeton Video a leadership role in the area of electronic signage.

Princeton Video is one of three companies worldwide that has developed technology for overlaying electronic ads onto existing billboards at sports venues during TV broadcasts.

Its deal with TWI aligns it with the largest independent supplier of TV programming in the world, a major rights negotiator and, in IMG, a company that represents many of the world’s top athletes.

PVI, of Princeton, N.J., says its system inserts these ads into live programming so precisely “that it actually appears as if it were physically in the actual arena or stadium or on the playing field.”