張星賢，是首位參加奧運的台灣人，亦是處於日本殖民和國府統治漩渦中的運動菁英，由於時局的變化和特殊的田徑生涯，他的一生面臨複雜的身分認同問題。本文從歷史研究的角度入手，以張氏的中文自傳和難得的日文自傳爲核心材料，配合其他相關史料，透過細微發掘和探索，澄清部份史料的錯誤陳述，亦試圖呈現張星賢的歷史記憶、運動圖像與奧運經驗之糾葛，以及曖昧模稜的身分認同與差異，藉此詮釋張星賢重層而複雜的面相。
每節內文的舖陳，係依據張氏的田徑發展歷程順序加以陳述。第一節是討論一九三○年之前，「現代運動」對張氏的啟蒙過程，以及興起反抗意識的起點。其次是陳述張氏封日本、滿洲、北平和故鄉去灣的情感，以及游移的身分認同。第三節從「叫接受作爲抵抗」的逆向認同來說明張氏的封抗澈。第四節是一九四五至四九年，張氏徘徊於「祖國認同」和「臺灣認同」情感土。最後，張星賢與來臺的「外省」人士進行「抗衡」，同時呈現「親日」的複雜情緒。從張氏的田徑世界和歷史啟迪裡，發現他始終處於多重認同來源的社會洪流下，共認同始終擺盪著。

Zhang Xing-xian was the first Taiwanese to participate in the Olympic Games, as well as an elite athlete who was caught in the maelstrom of the colonization by Japan and the rule by the Nationalist government. Owing to the changes in the situation of the times and his peculiar track and field career, he was confronted with the complicated issue of identity all his life. By starting from the angle of historical research, this article uses Mr. Zhang's Chinese autobiography and hard-to-come-by Japanese autobiography as core materials, coupled with other related historical materials, to clarify the erroneous statements in some historical materials through meticulous delving and exploration; it also attempts to represent the entanglement of historical memory, athletic image, and Olympic experience of Zhang Xing-xian, as well as the ambiguity and variety of his identity, thereby interpreting the multi-layered and intricate aspects of Zhang Xing-xian.
As for the layout of the text in this sections, the exposition is made in accordance with the chronological order in Zhang's track-and field developmental process. The first section deals with the process of enlightening influence that "modern athletics" exerted on Mr. Zhang and the beginning of the emergence of his consciousness of resistance. The second section dilates on Zhang's sentiment toward Japan, Manchuria, Peiping, and his homeland, Taiwan, as well as his wavering identity. The third section explains Zhang's viewpoint on resistance from the perspective of his contrarian identity in the form of "using acceptance as resistance." The fourth section covers the years from 1945 to 1949 when Zhang vacillated in "identity in his sentiment toward fatherland and Taiwan." Finally, Zhang was engaged in conflict with expatriate mainlanders who had come to Taiwan, meanwhile displaying pro-Japanese sentiment. From Zhang's track-and-field world and historical enlightenment, it can be found that always caught in the massive societal undercurrent of multiple sources of identity Zhang had been wavering in his identity from beginning to end.