CHINESE WEIGHTLIFTERS

BEAR HEAVY LIFE BURDEN

IN RETIREMENT
Chinese weightlifters are confronted with
employment difficulties, poverty and chronic
health problems after retirement.
INVESTIGATE & PHOTO BY MA YANG YUAN
March 2012
FEATURE
China's Young Weightlifter
Liu Xiao is a student athlete
of Zhuhai Team. She
practises 6 hours per day.
(Photo by Ma Yangyuan)
WEIGHTLIFTING IS THE MOST
MEDAL PRODUCTIVE PROGRAM
CHINA ATHLETES REQUIRE TO
SERVE CHINA WITH GLORY
Meng Chunhua still remembers the coach came to visit her in a
summer afternoon of 1996. He knocked the door when she and her
mother were watching the gymnastic competition of the Atlanta
Olympics. After measuring the girl's arm length, the man told her
she was born for weightlifting. Meng Chunhua was surprised, for
the frst time in her liIe she was inIormed she had some talents.
Although the girl had no ideas about weightlifting, she was
appealed by the rosy prospects portrayed by the coach. The man
promised to trained her into a future sports star. The time he
finished his inspiring speech, the sound of the national anthem
started to play in the television. She stared at her favorite Chinese
gymnast Li Xiaoshuang, who was standing on the top of the medal
podium, smiling and waving to her.
There was a moment Meng Chunhua felt herself became a
champion. being surrounded by fowers. fags and cheering crowds.
I told myself if doing weightlifting could one day bring me to the
Olympics, I would be willing to devote myself to sports.
Similar to Meng Chunhua, many Chinese weightlifters
started their careers from being chosen by the scouts. They were
convinced that being a weightlifter was more than a mission
to serve the country. It could be a great chance to reshape their
destinies as well. However, none of the children knew that what
they had seen were actually the most glorious sides of athletes. The
fact is: the future is bright, but few can survive to see.
Cruelest Promoting Competition
China's 1949 regime alternation had triggered wild international
discussions on the reasonable choice of the country's delegate: who
should represent China? Beijing or Taipei? After the 1952 Helsinki
Olympic Games, the Communist's Sports Ministry started to shift
its focus from promoting the peoples health to produce elite
sports stars. Sports achievements of international competitions
have been utilized as an important tool to refect China's socialist
superiorities. As a result of the party's persistence on sports
development, China has successfully erased the label sick man of
the east.
In order to gain more medals, the Chinese government has
invested 80% of the state's sporting budget in cultivating the sports
elites. Particular emphasis has been put on developing programs
that have a lot of events; among which, weightlifting is considered
to be the most medal productive program that plays a vital role in
assuring China's top ranking.
Chinese weightlifters are therefore shoulder the responsibility
to serve their country with honor and glory. Their trainings
are intense while the content is dull. Their daily activities are
revolvingaround monotonous and repeated actions. The ultimate LIFTING. Li Liangsheng is the oldest children in Zhuhai Sports Academy.
RETIRING. He Zhuoqiang was the most famous athletes in 1980s.
ADJUSTING. Zhao Julan is adjusting the students' actions.
FEATURE
d830800043
Ma Yangyuan
WARMING UP.There are a total
number of 90 teen weightlifters trained
at the Zhuhai Sports Academy. Every
year only one or two excellent students
were chosen by provincial team.
FEATURE
goal is to lift up barbell perfectly.
However, among all the Chinese
athletes, weightlifters are undergoing the
fiercest competition. After years of bitter
trainings and practices, most of them are
still unable to get a chance to fight for
their dreams. Their physical abilities may
start to degrade before achieving ideals in
international competitions.
"It's hard for one to distinguish from the
Chinese weightlifters. China has the largest
amount of best candidates in the world.
In each session of the Olympic Games,
Chinese weightlifters make a clean sweep
of all the medals in this area." Zhao Julan,
the current chief weightlifting coach of the
Zhuhai Sports Athletic School. She once
broke the women's 56kg world record in
1990s' Guangdong Provincial Game.
Today around 3,000 government-run
sports schools are identifying and nurturing
nearly all of Chinas Olympic weightlifters.
Among all these players, only the strongest
could promote to the top. According to the
Washington Post, in China, one out of forty
student athletes can make to the provincial
team. Of these a third eventually promote
to the national team and their probabilities
to be chosen as the in-train athletes for the
Olympics are 20%. Finally, a forth of them
can actually represent China to compete
for the Olympic Games. This means that
for every 2424 teens that are sent to the
training centers, 2423 never make it to the
Olympics. For each weightlifting medal
China once gained was in reality achieved
at the expense of thousands of young
athletes youth and sweat.
In t he wei ght l i ft i ng st adi um of
Zhuhai Sports Athletic School, student
weightlifters have just finished their
routine warm-up. The elder students pick
up barbells with heavy iron pieces and
repeatedly lifting up. The coach is standing
by adjusting their actions. The young
children are holding the iron pieces high
over head, enhance the physical strength
of their waists. Hanging on the wall of
the stadium are China's national fags and
some encouraging signs. The largest slogan
read: WORK HARD, BE PERSISTENT,
STRIVE TO SUCCEED, WIN HONOR
FOR CHINA.
Zhao Julan says now there are a total
number of 90 teen weightlifters trained
However, compar ed wi t h t he f ew
successful athletes, the underwater majority
are ignored.
The problem of athletes' insufficient
social security protection becomes urgent.
According to the statistics of the Physical
Educat i on Depar t ment of Tsi nghua
University, up to 2008, China has a total
number of 300,000 retired athletes. 80% of
them suffer from unemployment, poverty
or chronic health problems. Another
research done by the Beijing Physical
Education University also shows that every
year the general dropout rate of Chinese
athletes is 15%. However, an estimate of
40% of the athletes will be eliminated from
the sports system after China launched
large sports competitions like Olympic
Games or Asian Games.
Tian Guang, a sociology professor from
the South China Agricultural University
her. A freshman is required to receive at
least four years training before promoting
to the provincial team. Every year only one
or two excellent students were chosen by
provincial team, sometimes even none of
them were qualifed to promote.
He Zhuoqiang is the most famous
Chinese weightlifting champion in 1980s
who had sixth time refreshed the world
record. Recalling his years of trainings,
He said "The secret of my success is that I
work by harder than everyone else. When I
still served the Guangdong provincial team,
athletes were required to wake up at 6:45
in the morning. But I woke up at 5:40am
everyday and practiced myself. There was
no exception during my 4 years training in
Guangdong team."
The former world champion said he had
no choice but to fght. "II I don't reach to
the top, I would fall down to the bottom. I
can not imagine any other occupation that
is crueler than weightlifters".
Retired Weightlifters:
Leave at a Loss
China's athletic upward mobility system
is similar to an iceberg----what people can
see is only a small proportion of the total
amount. For athletes who finally make to
the top, their stories are widely read by
the public. Their efforts are awarded with
high social status, large sums of money
and even exclusive political privileges.
She never expected her professional career
would one day end up pulling the rickshaw
at her 13s. The time when her peers were
studying in the classroom, she was lifting
along the street, working 12 hours a day,
earning 3000 yuan a month.
If it was not the sudden injury, the girl's
dream may last longer. In a provincial
team recruitment test, Xiao Meng was too
anxious that she suddenly lost her balance
and fell down heavily. Her left knee was
seriously injured. "The time I fell onto the
ground, I knew everything was over".
Realized Xiao Meng could never made
any progress, the coach sent her back. She
did not get any compensation after 6 years
of training. Neither did she be provided a
job that the coach once promised. Besides,
the expenditure of her medical treatment
worsen their poverties.
The following entire year after her
injury was the hardest time she and her
mother ever had. After her left knee
was cured, she tried to find jobs but no
companies would like to hire a female
retired weightlifter that had almost no
education or career background.
Despite poverty, Xiao Meng was
detected the hormonal disorder. She had
developed certain male characters including
a prominent Adams apple, low voice and
beards on her face. Recalled her years in
the team, her coach sometimes provided
t hem a ki nd of st rengt h i mprovi ng
medicine before competitions. "My coach
asked me to take it before the competition.
He said it was a nutrition booster. But
actually it was a kind of excitant drug that
would harm our health.
Xiao Meng lives with her mother since
her parents divorced. Her retirement made
the woman sad. "We don' t have much
money. My mother supported my train
from working as a nanny. She wished one
day I could become a professional athlete
and our living situation would improve.
But I turned her down. I was thrown out
like rubbish with no education, no skills
and an injured leg."
Xiao Meng's situation has turned better.
Despite pulling rickshaw at the Fifth
Avenue, she also helps her friend to do
the lunch delivery at noon. She can get
1000 yuan extra every month. she and her
mother are quite satisfed.
believes China's current athletic social
securi t y syst em fai l s t o offer sol i d
protections for both the professionals
and the amateurs. "China's national and
some provincial athletes are included as
the system's protection groups. However
sometimes their rights are compromised
sometimes as a result of the government's
negligence of duty, procrastination and a
lack of surveillance mechanism. For the
student athletes, their situations are even
worse. Although many of them receive
intensive trainings at school, they are
excluded from system. In reality, this group
of students constitutes the biggest number
of Chinese athletes."
Meng Chunhua: I was
thrown out like rubbish
Meng Chunhua is among one of those
student athlete, she became the only female
rickshaw puller at Tianjins Fifth Avenue.
But standing in a group of male labors,
Meng is almost the same with others---
-dark skin, strong figure and low voice.
People call me Xiao Meng. I could not
find any jobs after retirement because I
have no skill despite weightlifting. I don't
have much choices but to sell my labor to
survive. Xiao Meng said.
Xiao Meng joined in Tianjing's Jinhai
Sports Center and took up weightlifting
outside. The training was extremely tough
and dull. Every day she was asked to spend
8 hours practising without having any other
subjects or courses. Several times Xiao
Meng decided to quit. But her dream of
becoming an Olympic champion made her
carry on.
Now looking back to the dream, Xiao
Meng said it was "childish and unrealistic".
1/40
There are a total number of
90 teen weightlifters training
in Zhuhai Sports Academy.
A freshman is generally
required to receive at least
four years training before
promoting to the provincial
team. Every year only one or
two excellent students were
chosen by provincial team,
sometimes even none of them
were qualified to promote.
STUDENT LIFTERS. Student weightlifters do not enjoy any for of social security protection.
d830800043
Ma Yangyuan
FEATURE
Still Xiao Meng said she did not fully
recovered from the previous experience.
"Sometimes I wish it just a nightmare.
When I wake up, everything goes back to
my 13s. If I could choose again, this time
I would stay at school and learn some
knowledge." Xiao Meng cried. Her mother
was sitting beside her, wiping her tears.
Should Government
Take Care Everything?
China' s athletic security system has
shifted from the once "country take
care everything" model to the current
"government cooperate with society",
which is actually indicating that the
country would not arranged everything for
the retired athletes.
Athletes are indeed treated differently
by the government, according to their
national rankings, contributions and
qualifications. Some top retired athletes
like He Zhuoqiang are taken good care
by the government. He now enjoys the
treatment of department head, serves as an
administration official of the Guangdong
Sports University. "The job is relax and I
have many free times everyday." He said.
But for parts of the professional
at hl et es and al l t he amat eurs, i t i s
unrealistic to ask for job allocations
from the government. Sometimes the
professionals' situations may even worse
than the amateurs. Although professional
athletes enjoy certain social securities,
they spend a longer time staying in their
teams compared with the amateurs, which
brings lager diIfculties Ior them to adapt
to the society.
To improve the current situation,
i n par t i cul ar, sol vi ng t he at hl et e' s
empl oyment pr obl em, Ti an Guang
believes that the importance of education
can not be overemphasi zed. "Many
athletes find themselves disadvantaged
in academic studies, so the government
can pay more attention on vocational and
career trainings. To encourage the athletes'
study initiatives, the country can provide
certain amount of subsidy in getting some
career qualifcation certifcates."
On the other hand, athletes should fully
exercise their own abilities to seek for
useful government resources to improve.
"The fact is that the Central Sports
Hard to Recruit Young
Weightlifters
Zhao Julan Ieels more and more diIfcult
to recruit local children for weightlifting
these years. Most of the student lifters
come from the nearby countryside of
Zhuhai. But recent years Zhao needs to
ravel to some other provinces to recruit
athletes.
When Zhao recruited the weightlifters,
she did not tell the parents that their kids
would be sent to take up weightlifting, or
the parents would not give their children
to her. "All of the children here come
from the rural area. Their parents are more
closed to information. They are glad to see
that their children can live in the city and
experience different lives."
With the improvement of economic .
s i t ua t i ons , t he r e a r e muc h mor e
opportunities outside of sports. Parents
don' t want to limit their kids just to
one thing. In the old times, parents
eager l y s ent t hei r ki ds t o s por t s
school could be seen as the result of
food scarcity. However, this kind of
situation does not exist anymoreDespite
t h e e c o n o m i c r e a s o n , T i a n
Guang says the problems of athletic social
security is another important factor of
recruitment diIfculties.
It remains to be a tough job for one
to dinstinguish from China's competitive
wei ght l i f t er s. Zhao Jul an says t he
fiercest competition was not between the
international competitors, but between
the domestic players. To perform at
the Olympic stage, one needs to have
outstanding capacities. While it is also
important to have a good relationship
with the government. "Becasue the top
5 may all competent enough to win the
champion. It is the opportunity that really
matters."
In Zhuhai's weightlifting team, the
youngest student was Ye Jinshi. She is
10 years old this year. Jinshi so far has
not been assigned any trainings. But she
sometimes took the iron bar and lifted it
over head.
Jinshi complains that she could only
go back home to meet her parents once a
week. But here, she has many friends to
play with. She
When being asked her whether she
likes weightlifting and what is her dream
in the future. The young girl said: My
biggest dream is to serve my country with
honor and become an Olympic champion.
get a job in a golf club, working as a ball
girl." Zhao Julan as Pan's former coach,
understood her situation well. "There are
reasons for her success. Pan Yanhong is
persistent. We actually sent 3 students
to the golf club at first, two of them left
because they could not bear the hard
work. Pan chose to stay and now she is a
promising golf athlete."
Luo Xing is the chieI ftness instructor
of the Total Fitness Club. Before she
joined the club, she was a student of
the Guangzhou Sports University and
weightlifting was her main training
course. She never regrets practicing
weightlifting. Instead, she believes her
athletic background brings her advantages
in getting jobs. "I don't think weightlifting
is useless. During my 4 years' training,
I become more self-disciplined and
persistent. The knowledge background
of weightlifting is very helpful for me
to serve my customers. I know how the
muscle work, so I can give people advice
on muscle building."
When she was still at school, Luo
Xing understood the government would
not allocate an amateur a job after she
graduated. She started to prepare for her
career when she was still a student at
school. " I do not want to become a top
athlete. I believe "outstanding athlete" is
more of a status rather than title. When an
athlete pass his athletic peak, no matter
how gorgeous he once was, one day he
will face retirement. Through taking
examinations I got some career certifcate.
They helps a lot for me to get a job."
Luo Xing says she understands the
personalities of retired weightlifters and
their employment difficulties. When
recruiting new coach, she would pay
attention to employee with weightlifting
backgrounds. "Those people are tough and
diligent enough to endure hardship."
Ministry has issued several regulations
in facilitating the retired athletes to get a
job. But in China, everything was slow to
be put into practice......under the current
situation, the athletes should take care
of themselves. Even if the government
allocates one a nice job, if he is not
competent enough he may lose it fnally."
3 years ago, the exposure of Zou
Chunlan's miserable living situations had
attracted wide range of public attention.
Zou, t he once femal e wei ght l i ft i ng
national champion was portrayed to be a
vulnerable disadvantage of the marketing
economy and a victim of the country's
sports system. However, Zhao Julan shows
no sympathy to Zou.
She agrees with Tian Guang's opinion.
"The media only represents part of the
story. The truth is that because Zou is
unwilling to go to the university, her team
allocated her a job as a coach. Several
weeks after that she quit teaching because
she did not know how to communicate
with the students. Later the team give
her another job in the school canteen as
a worker. Three years after that, she quit
again and asked for compensation."
"She took 100,000 yuan and leave.
In 1990s, it was a indeed large sum of
money. She can not always reply on the
government but refuse to work herself."
Weightlifting Can be the
Advantage
Pan Yanhong is now a rising professional
female golfer serves as a member of
Guangdong Golf Channel Team. She used
to be the student of Zhao Julan.
Pan says her previous weightlifting
experiences helps her a lot in playing golf.
Benefting Irom her previous weightliIting
experience, she can nail a drive between
280-310 yards. Her drive is longer than
most of the women. "I enjoy playing
golf. It is much comfortable than doing
weightlifting. I am satisfied with my
current occupation. 3 years ago, I did not
expect to have such a life." Pan said.
The t i me Pan Yanhong l eft t he
t eam, si mi l ar t o ot her at hl et es, she
was confused about her future. "I have
practised weightlifting for more than 10
years. I don't know anything else except
weightlifting." Her team helped her to
Pan Yanhong. After retiring from being a weightlifters for more than 10 years, Pab becomes a professional golfer.
80%
China has a total number
of 300,000 retired athletes.
80% of them suffer from
unemployment, poverty or
chronic health problems.
d830800043
Ma Yangyuan