Tong Family

For the true student of chinese, here are the nicknames of “players”:http://www.nbcolympics.com/newscenter/news/newsid=236723.html. Some are really great!

| Athlete | Nickname | Pinyin | Translation | Explanation |
| LeBron James | 小皇帝 | xiao3 huang2 di4 | Little Emperor | He’s King James |
| Camelo Anthony | 甜瓜 ｜ tian2 gua1 | Sweet Melon | Sweet and mellow |
| Michael Phelps | 飞鱼 ｜ fei1 yu2 | Flying fish | Fei mean Phelps |
| Ai Fukuhara | 瓷娃娃 | ci wa wa | Porcelain Doll | She crys a lot (Japan table tennis |
| Jeannie Long-Ciprelli | 祖母 ｜ zu3 mu3 | (paternal) Grandma | 50 years old in cycling |
| Lang Ping | 铁榔头 ｜ tie3 lang2 tou | Iron (sledge) Hammer | Great hitter |
| Roger Federer | 奶牛 | nai3 niu2 | Milk Cow | Got a cow after first Wimbleton win |

Final aside, on the proper way to say Olympics in Chinese. The long form is

| 奥林匹克 | ao4 lin2 pi3 ke4 | Olympics |
| 运动会 | yun4 dong4 hui4 | Games |

But this gets shortened to

| 奥运会 ｜ ao4 yun4 hui4 | shorter |
| 奥运 | ao4 yun4 | even shorter |
| 冬奥会 | dong1 ao4 yun4 | Winter olympics |

And here are the names of the various sports:

| 体操 | ti3 cao1 | gymnastics |
| 木马 | mu4 ma3 | vault horse |
| 艺术体操 | yi4 shu4 ti3 cao1 | tryhtmic gymnastics |
| 单杠 | dan1 gang4 | the bar |
| 鞍马 | an1 ma3 | pommel horse |
| 吊环 | diao4 huan2 | hanging rings |
| 双杠 | shuang2 gang4 | parallel bars |
| 跳马 | tiao4 ma3 | vaulting horse |
| 平衡木 | ping2 heng2 mu4 | balance beam |
| 高低杠 | gao1 di1 gang4 | uneven bars |
| 自由体操 | zi4 you2 ti3 cao3 | floor exercises|
| 选手 | xuan3 shou3 | athlete |
| 泳 ｜ yong3 | swimming |
| 蛙泳 | wa1 yong3 | breaststroke (frog swim) |
| 自由泳 | zi4 you2 yong3 | freestyle (self cause swim) |
| 蝶泳 | die2 yong3 | butterfly stroke |
| æ°´ç«‹æ–¹ | shui3 li4 fang2 | The Water cube |
| 北京国家游泳中心 | bei3 jing2 guo2 jia1 you2 yong3 zhong1 xin1 | Beijing ational Aquatic Center |
| 篮球 | lan2 qiu2 | basketball |
| 排球 | pai2 qiu2 | volleyball (line ball) |

|