Chinese Female Wrestler Takes On The Men

I was working as a photographer during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and had been sent to China's national training center to get some photos a few weeks before the Games began. Both my parents are Chinese so I knew the language, which was a big help. The first stop was the wrestling room. I had wrestled all 4 years of high school so I knew a lot about the sport and was interested in seeing how the Chinese team was doing.

I had arranged to meet one of the coaches, who led me into the gym where there were 4 big mats laid out and pairs of wrestlers were going at it. I was following the coach to the opposite end of the gym to drop off some of my stuff when I noticed something strange. Two wrestlers had just walked out to the center of the mat to shake hands. Both were muscular and soaked in sweat, Both were wearing singlets with the Chinese flag, but they were slightly different. The wrestler with the  short black spiky hair had a lowcut singlet with the front part leaving both nipples exposed. The other had longer hair and was wearing a much higher-cut singlet.


"Hey, that's a girl!" I said to the coach.


He stopped and turned around to see what I was talking about and responded matter-of-factly, "Yeah, she's our 72kg women's champion. She often practices with the men - and usually beats them too."


This I had to see. I pulled out my camera as the action began.


The two wrestlers hunched over as the whistle blew. The male wrestler went in for a double leg takedown, but the female wrestler sprawled, took hold of his head and quickly moved to his side, catching is left leg. She tried to flip him over, but he got his balance and planted both arms on the mat, his chest sagging down as he raised his ass in the air. His female opponent got behind him and grabbed his ankle as she wiped some sweat from her face onto the guy's already went singlet.


Then she pounced on his back and slid both legs don inside his thighs, locking her heels just at the base of his balls. She then wrapped an arm around his chin and twisted him until he started groaning in agony.


"Wow, she's really brutalizing him!" I said to the coach.


"She's just showing off for the camera," he replied.


That was definitely true. She was pretty much posing as I snapped away. I felt a little sorry for the guy. He was basically just a prop now. She'd ease up for a few seconds, and then squeeze, digging her heels into his testicles and making him cry out in pain. His face was convoluted and red as sweat streamed down his forehead, which she had an expression of determination. Meanwhile, the other male wrestlers were looking on in disbelief as one of their own was totally humiliated.


She could have finished him off right then, but instead she relaxed her hold and let him roll flat onto his belly with her body on top of his. The ref blew his whistle and called them back to their feet.


The male wrestler looked exhausted and kind of stunned. He was making clumsy attempts at takedowns until the female wrestler managed to get him in a headlock and. I could see she was going to throw him so i set my camera to rapid fire mode to capture it all. Over he went and landed with a loud smack. She had him on his back and tightened her vice-like grip and he just laid there, barely even flopping around. The ref got down to have a look and slapped the mat.


The victorious female wrestler sprang to her feet and the male wrestler remained prostrate on the mat, trying to regain his composure. Finally she went over and grabbed her beaten opponent's hand, pulling him to his feet so he could stand in the center of the mat to acknowledge her victory. The ref raised the female wrestler's arm in my direction so I could get a final photo.