Veteran Chinese sports reporter Gao Dianmin dies at 62

　　Veteran Chinese sports reporter Gao Dianmin (Source: Xinhuanet)

Veteran Chinese sports reporter Gao Dianmin, who has covered every edition of the Summer Olympics from 1984 to 2016, died of a heart attack Friday afternoon while attending the International Olympic Committee's press committee meeting in PeongChang. He was 62.

Gao, a longtime member of the IOC press committee, joined Xinhua News Agency in 1977 after graduating from Dalian University of Foreign Languages. He had previously served at Xinhua as sports director and London bureau chief. He also served on the media committees of both the International Association of Athletics Federations and the International Volleyball Federation.

Gao, who mainly covered shooting, athletics and volleyball in his early career, was the first reporter in the world to break the news when Xu Haifeng won China's first ever Olympic gold medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

"Before the judge declared the result, I ran 30 to 40 meters into the media center and made a phone call to the editor," said Gao in an interview during the Rio Olympics. "In a time without the electronic scoring system, I was the first one to report China's first Olympic gold."

Gao was appointed as Xinhua sports director in 1998 and London bureau chief in 2011.

Gao also participated in the torch relay for the Athens, Beijing, London and Rio Olympics, along with covering eight Asian Summer Games from 1982 to 2010 and numerous world championships of different sports.

He is survived by his wife, Wang Ya, a daughter and a grandchild.