On August 21, Chinese team gained a place of the Men's 4x100 Relay Final by clocking 39.13 seconds. This was the first time for Chinese team to reach final on this event. The athlete who dashed across the finish line and set a new record for the Chinese team was Hu Kai, currently a postgraduate at Tsinghua SEM, who's known as "the bespectacled flyer".

(On August 21, Hu Kai dashed across the finish line in the Men's 4x100 Relay Semi-final )

Before this, Hu Kai made a historical breakthrough for a Chinese track and field athlete by qualifying for the second round of the Men's 100 Meter Sprint with a time of 10.40 seconds on August 15. Although he failed in his effort to advance to the third round, he became the first runner from China ever to advance to the second round.

(On August 15, Hu Kai reached the second round of the Men's 100 Meter Sprint )

We mostly know our sports stars for their strength and endurance, but there is a particularly intelligent Chinese track star known for his eyeglasses and his identity of a student from one of China’s best universities.

“I got used to wearing glasses when training. When I was young, I was told by doctors that I could not wear contacts and I began to wear glasses”, said Hu Kai,“wearing spectacles does not affect me.”

As a student at Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, Hu Kai is the first Chinese runner and the only amateur to take first place in the World University Games Men’s 100 Meter event in 2005- the first time a Chinese was awarded a gold medal for a 100-meter event. The achievement yielded another honor when he was named “The Best Newcomer of 2006” by the China Laureus Sports Awards.

Born and raised in the City of Qingdao, Shandong Province, and gentle in appearance, especially when wearing his glasses, Hu Kai did not make a name for himself in sports until his third year of high school, when he set a new school record in the high jump at 1.88 meters. He was later recruited to the athletics team of the school and his great potential as a sprinter was realized. When Hu Kai tried out for the team at Tsinghua University, he clocked 10.70 seconds in the 100-meter sprint and the coach, Li Qing, recruited him on the spot.

In 2001, Hu Kai was admitted to Tsinghua SEM with excellent college entrance exam scores (583 marks) where he studied business administration for a bachelor degree. “I become a Tsinghua student through college entrance exam”, said Hu Kai, “I am an amateur sportsman studying and living in the tower of ivory.”

The elegant and gentle Hu Kai has never changed his “student nature”. Hu has excellent grades at university and speaks English well like many other students at Tsinghua SEM. After accomplishing all the requirements for the bachelor degree in 2006, Hu Kai was admitted to the master program in the Department of Business Strategy and Policy with the School’s recommendation. And for the graduate courses Hu Kai has accomplished so far, his academic records are all above B--- pretty good performance among graduate students.

Life would be different for a Chinese student if he emerged as a world champion. But Hu Kai likes to live a simple life. Hu Kai said he would pursue a doctoral degree after Beijing Olympics. As for the far future, the “student sportsman” who is fond of sports, movie and poem, said he expected to possess a peaceful, happy and healthy life.

Major Achievements:

2004 100m&200m champion, National Athletic Grand Prix

2005 100m champion, National Athletic Championship

2005 100m champion,Athletic Competition, Thailand

2005 100m champion, 23th World University Games

2005 100m No.6, Shanghai Athletics Grand Prix

2005 100m champion, East Asia Games

2006 60m champion, National Indoor Athletic Championship, Beijing Station

2008 100m champion, Osaka Athletics Grand Prix