Cruel everyday life of incubators of future Olympic champions in China
Crying children are a typical picture for Chinese youth sports schools, where previously very young children were given to coaches to become Olympic champions. Children from the age of six are waiting for grueling workouts here. Nevertheless, now the situation is gradually changing: due to the demographic failure, the increase in the welfare of the population and the spread of other types of education.
(29 photos in total)
The girl stretches her legs and tries to reach the trainer's pointer at a gymnastics lesson at the Yangpu Amateur Youth Sports School in Shanghai.
The Chinese sports training system became one of the most successful in the world after the country returned to participate in the Olympic Games in 1980. It reached its peak when China took first place in the standings of the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008 and dropped only to second during the London Olympics four years later.
The coach wipes the girl's tears at a gymnastics lesson. Chinese sports schools are known for forcing children to work to the limit of their physical abilities in order to make them Olympic champions.
Now fewer and fewer parents want to put their children in the hands of coaches, which is why the number of students in sports schools has sharply decreased. In China, more and more attention is being paid to cultural education. Some schools have closed, others have had to revise their education systems. In 1990, there were 3,687 such schools.
Children do a handstand during a gymnastics lesson at the Yangpu Amateur Youth Sports School in Shanghai.
The controversy about the relevance of the sports school system began during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, as it turned out that it was difficult for athletes to find their place in life after leaving big sports due to the high educational requirements among the growing middle class in China.
Girls learn to stand on their hands.
The decline in the birth rate in China due to the "one family, one child" policy has not helped to improve the situation, along with a rigid education system in which students have to spend twice as much time on homework than in the rest of the world.
Children at badminton training at the Shichahai Sports School in Beijing.
In 2010, the Chinese authorities responded to this concern of citizens by introducing a new policy called "Document 23", which directs schools to raise educational standards and provide more support to former athletes.
Teenage girls listen to the instructions of a coach during a boxing lesson at the Beijing Shichahai Sports School.
In the children's sports school of Pudong New District number 1 in Shanghai, three years ago, the forty-year tradition was canceled, according to which all students had to study, train and live on campus. Now more than half of the 700 students of the sports school study other subjects in other schools. Of the remaining 300 students who are permanently on the school grounds, only about 10% live outside of it.
There are also regular lessons at Shichahai School. There is a poster on the wall with the call: "Take an example from the Olympic champions."
Other schools, such as Shanghai Yangpu Youth Amateur Sports School, come to kindergartens to promote gymnastics among parents as extracurricular play activities for children. They call it "happy gymnastics."
The equipment for fencing training at the Shichahai school is painted in the colors of the Olympic rings.
The Beijing Shichahai School, decorated with posters glorifying former students who became Olympic champions, offers comprehensive development, and students develop skills that will be useful in life after completing a sports career.
The student continues taekwondo training, despite the fact that his nose is bleeding.
The Shanghai Sports School, among whose students is the former Olympic swimming champion Liu Zige, in 2012 stopped accepting athletes who did not pass the academic entrance exams. At school, parents are told that they want to use sports training for education, and not as an end in itself. According to the director of the school, many educational institutions are moving in this direction, but the process is quite painful, because now there is still an opinion that education and training are two different ways and it is impossible to be a champion and an educated person at the same time.
Girls pump their abs at a gymnastics lesson at Shanghai Yangpu School.
The Chinese authorities do not publish statistics on enrollment in sports schools, but there are signs that changing circumstances have already begun to affect the quality and quantity of sports personnel in the country. In April, the China Sports Daily newspaper reported that since 1987, the number of athletes studying table tennis has decreased by almost a quarter, to 23,266 people.
Girls cheer for their girlfriends during the uneven bars exercise competitions.
The reform of the sports education system is still difficult. In March, a government study found that some schools from nine cities and provinces were not spending enough money on education and many local education departments paid little attention to the improvements prescribed by Document 23.
The girl hung on the bars during a gymnastics lesson at the Yangpu School in Shanghai.
But athletes like 25-year-old Wang Linwen, a former professional athlete in the martial art of wushu, argues that reforms, even small ones, are vital for those who want to enroll in sports schools. For five years before her retirement from big-time sports in 2009, she spent all weekdays in training, and only weekends remained for studying. "I have lost a lot because I have not experienced the effects of the education system. Reform is good, so students of sports schools will not leave there without knowledge at all."
Identically dressed twin sisters watch their classmates perform gymnastic exercises.
The coach helps the boy to perform an exercise during a gymnastics lesson.
Girls run to the showers during a break between classes.
Shichahai School students lined up after a table tennis lesson.
A girl pulls her leg to the bar at a gymnastics lesson.
The coach helps the girl with stretching.
Fencing lesson at the Shichahai School in Beijing.
Children play ball during recess at Shanghai Yangpu School.
Taekwondo lesson at Shichahai School in Beijing.
Twin sisters in gymnastics class.
At recess after a gymnastics lesson, the boy stretches his legs while lying on the floor.
At the Shichahai School in Beijing, there is a poster with Olympic champions who once studied here.
After lessons at Shanghai Yangpu School.
A table tennis lesson at the Beijing Shichahai School.
The girl is preparing for fencing.
Gymnastics lesson at Yangpu School in Shanghai.
Foreign tourists watch the lessons at the Shichahai School in Beijing.
Keywords: Gymnastics | Achievements | China | Medals | Education | Olympics | Olympic games | Stretching | Athletes | Coach | Training | Fencing | Champions