The goalie for China’s women’s hockey team – who was born in Canada and spent almost her entire life there – was barred from speaking English in a press availability earlier this week.
Zhou Jiaying, also known as Kimberly Newell, answered a number of questions in Mandarin before a reporter asked if she could take questions in English. Before she could respond, her translator did so for her.
“She’s not allowed to speak English,” the interpreter said, according to Reuters† “I’ll try to answer for her.”
Newell is fluent in English, Mandarin and French, according to her official Olympic bio. However, as an official Chinese athlete, the country will only allow her speak in her non-native tongue.
The 26-year-old is one of many foreign-born athletes to represent the country without holding citizenship or spending much time in China.
She played most of her junior career with the Canadian national team, but had the opportunity to join China’s team KRS Vanke Rays in the Zhenskaya Hockey League, and that allowed her to represent the country in Beijing. The entire national team plays for the Vanke Rays, many of them American and Canadian.
Newell has Chinese heritage through her mother, who was born in China. Zhou Jiaying is a name she adopted for the Olympics, as all the foreign-born players have done.
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Jeremy Smith, the goalie for the men’s hockey team, has no Chinese heritage and spent most of his career bouncing around the NHL and AHL. He gave up eight goals in his debut against the US team Thursday.