Sports at the Roof of the World: athletics coach Gesang Ciren

Gesang Ciren, born in 1965 in Shannan, Xizang, is the head coach of the Xizang middle and long distance running team and President of the Xizang Athletics Association. He is widely regarded as the founding figure of the sport in Xizang. His own athletic career was marked by outstanding achievements, and since retiring from competition in 1993, he has remained on the front lines of coaching for 33 years. Driven by love for the sport and sustained by unwavering dedication, he has trained numerous world-class and national-level athletes.

In this episode, Coach Gesang Ciren looked back on the journey — from his days as an athlete in the 1980s, to taking the helm as head coach of the Xizang team in 1993, all the way through to his upcoming retirement this year — sharing the ups and downs and the stories that have shaped the team along the way. Embodying the Xizang sporting spirit of "oxygen-deprived but never spirit-deprived," he reflected in particular on the team's trip to Ethiopia in 2011 for exchange and training — a journey that truly brought to life the meaning of stepping out into the wider world.