Like in many other countries, the top challenge in
China is that a very limited number of kids are
participating gymnastics. This is happening partly
because of the lack of popularity of gymnastics in
China - despite of gymnastics being the one of the
most watched sports during the Olympics and
household names like Cheng Fei and Liu Xuan.
During one interview, Huang, the MAG head coach
and the deputy director of National Gymnastics
Administrative Center, mentioned that gymnastics
talent famine was due to some structural
problems (a limited number are training for the
gymnastics due to the elitism in Chinese
gymnastics) and infightings among teams at
various levels (many talents concentrate in a few
well-funded teams but are not well-trained due to
limited resources).
Of course fewer and fewer families are willing to
send their daughters to train for sports when
these young girls could study computers or play
piano instead. The number of kids training for
gymnastics is even considerable less than many
other sports, like table tennis and badminton,
which also operate under the same “whole
country” regime. Aside from the strict
requirement on trainee’s physical structure, the
hard-training stereotype associated with the sport
also contributes to its lack of popularity.
On the potential solutions to the unpopularity of
the sports, Huang proposed the idea of “happy
gymnastics” training method. Li Ning , the former
champions and one of most successful athlete-
turned entrepreneur in China, is undoubtedly the
pioneer in promoting “happy gymnastic”. Li Ning
built two private gymnastics schools in Guandong
province, which are different from the state-
funded sports school. Recently Li Ning is planning
to take over another successful gymnastics-
oriented elementary school in Shanghai and
convert it to Li Ning Gymnastics school No. 3. All
those efforts, along with other attempts to build
club-style gymnastics system (like the one in the
States), will help Chinese gymnastics to establish a
more diversified training system.
Also in the same interview, Huang mentioned that
the reports on the paralysis injury suffered by
gymnast Sang Lan and overly harsh training in
provincial teams by the Chinese mainstream
media years ago seriously hurt the image of the
gymnastics. Huang emphasized that the
protective training is strictly enforced and any
abusive behavior, once confirmed, will lead
straight to the termination of a coach.
ATHLETES AND BENEFITS
Once recruited into the provincial team, a
gymnast becomes a professional athlete and is
paid a monthly salary. The monthly salary for
WAG athletes in the provincial team 1 is in the
range of 1,000-3000 RMB (200-500 USD). After
enrolling the national team, gymnasts still get
their salary from their home provincial teams
with national team stipend. Other benefits of
national team members include free electronic
products from team sponsors like Samsung and a
free round-trip air ticket each year for their
parents to visit them etc.
After retirement, most gymnasts choose to
pursue college education. Those who didn’t medal
in any national competition must take the
national college entrance exam. So besides
training, the academic study is also major part of
a gymnast's daily life. The retired athletes usually
study in physical-education related majors and
pursue coaching career after graduation. The
gymnasts with national titles or medals from
international competitions can pursue a degree in
any college with tuition paid by the state. The
lucky and talented few who became household
names, like Liu Xuan, Yang Yun and Yang Bo, can
even develop a career in the entertainment
industry, become TV show host, actress and
singer.
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