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Research Paper
Olympic Training in Beijing
Sports and Media Communication
By Ilana Israel
May 20
th
, 2012

Introduction
This research paper will cover how Olympic host countries choose to create strong
training programs before they host the Olympic games in their country. The focus of this paper
will be looking at how China created these programs for the Beijing Olympics and how it helped
them with their medal count in the end. In 2008, the Olympic games were held in Beijing China
and the amount of pressure that was put on young athletes in the preceding years was noted in
the media coverage of these Olympic games. This has been reported as the largest Olympic
education program ever that has been implemented by an Olympic host country. This paper
will: begin with an overview and explanation of how China used the media to their advantage to
show the world why they were going to be so successful at their Olympic games; explore some
of the boarding schools that were created; examine whether it worth all the financial funding for
these programs in the end; and explore the infrastructure, opening and closing ceremonies and
media coverage of the Beijing Olympics.

Overview
The media in the United States covered the Olympic education initiative during the
Olympic games explaining how China had a considerable number of athletes competing and they
all had hopes of going gold. The media in the United States covered these training programs in
newspapers and television broadcasts. For example, there were many news stories found in the
New York Times and USA Today along with coverage sections on NBC during their live
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coverage. Today many clips can be found on YouTube that show the intense training that some
of these Chinese athletes went through and the challenges and decisions that their parents and
families had to make to support these athletes in their dreams. The importance of the coverage in
the news media about these trainings is that it allowed the viewers in the United States to see the
impact on athletic training tactics of a more conservative and authoritarian governmental regime
than the United States. The slogan that was used by China during these Olympic games was
going for the gold. China wanted to dominate the events that they had historically exceled in,
such as gymnastics, but they also put large amounts of funding into sports that had not been as
popular in their country, such as swimming and weight lifting (Lim, 2008; Jacobs, 2012). With
their eye on the prize, the Chinese government started many Olympic preparatory boarding
schools where children from all over the country came to train in their respective sports.

Boarding Schools
The major goal of the creation of the boarding schools for the Olympics was to create
rigorous environments where all the students were focused on their athletics, away from family
and friend distractions. In the United States, most people assume when boarding schools are
mentioned that those schools are in references to high school aged students or at least middle
school age. However, in China many of their boarding schools with Olympic training start at the
age of 4 years old. One school mentioned, Li Xiaoshung Gymnastics School, which is located in
the province of Hubei, focuses on creating gymnasts who will win the gold (Lim, 2008). One of
the drills this school is known for is having the children hold a handstand position for 10
minutes. This school consists of 100 athletes between the ages of 4 and 9 years old. Most of the
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athletes they have board at the school so they can benefit from round the clock training from the
9 coaches. (Lim, 2008)
The staff at this school work for the Chinese Governments General Administration of
Sports, which plays a key role in creating athletes that will be in the running for top medals at the
Olympic games. This program is where the athletes get picked if they are going to be the future
Olympic athletes of China. A Chinese national swimmer who later went into academics, Fan
Hong, said competitive sport is without gunfire. (Lim, 2008) This is just one example of how
the training programs focus on the level of performance that the individual can do rather than the
individual as a human. The costs for one year at these boarding schools can compare to the price
of one years tuition, paid for by the athletes families, at a private college or university in the
United States. Exact numbers are not released to the public because they differ so much from
school to school and they want to keep the information exclusive to potential families.
In China, an Olympic athlete receives funding from the government that is referred to as
a government salary, which is looked at as being a positive benefit for the athletes because it
allows them to be able to focus on their training and not have to worry about work (Brownell,
2009, p.47-49). This is compared to athletes in the United States where most are on scholarship
at universities, are financially supported by family or work other jobs to be able to afford training
for these Olympic sports. In most instances, the Olympic training and education in the United
States is separated from politics and extreme governmental intervention, but in China the
government funded and supported these institutions. Lots of schools in China decided to engage
in the Olympic education because they would receive funding from the government. Many of
these schools were previously low or middle ranked schools that used this funding and support to
try to change their status. In 2007, 1,100 schools were part of the Olympic education system that
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was put in place and these schools reached a population of 400 million students in all of China.
(Brownell, 2009, p.51) These boarding schools are the main source of athletes for the Olympic
games in China.
National Public Radio did a segment on the Beijing Olympics and the training that went
on at these boarding schools. They interviewed a parent of two children who went to Li
Xiaoshuang Gymnastics School and the father mentioned that he felt that sending his children to
this school at the age of 4 was in their best interest. He said that he got to talk with them on the
phone once a week, but never got to see them. An interesting point that the father mentioned was
that if his daughters did not get chosen to continue the rigorous path towards being an Olympic
gymnast then he would send them into Olympic diving training because having the gymnastic
background would help them to be Olympic divers. (Lim, 2008) This Olympic training education
is a lifestyle choice not an extracurricular activity, which many Americans see sports being in the
United States.

Was it Worth the Financial Support?
A major question that has been asked regarding the Beijing Olympics is: was it worth the
financial support of the government? This section will discuss the amount of medal totals that
China achieved across three Olympics, Athens in 2004, Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. It
will also look at the infrastructure that China implemented for the Olympics and how the
infrastructure and opening and closing ceremonies were viewed in the media.
The medal count in the Athens Olympics was the largest medal earnings that China had
ever received up to that point at an Olympic games. They had 407 athletes that competed in 203
different events. They earned a total of 32 gold, 17 silver and 14 bronze medals (see Table 1).
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This put China in third place for total medals earned at 63, under Russia who came in second and
first place the United States. The 32 gold medals put China in second place under the United
States for the top gold medal Countries in Athens. This Olympics was the first time that China
was recognized as a powerhouse and set 6 new world records during these games. (Hong, Wu &
Haun, 2005, p. 510) This sparked a nationwide goal of preforming at a higher level in their
Olympics in Beijing in 2008. This started many government funded institutions along with
funding for already existing athletic programs as described above.
Was this worth it? As shown by the numbers of medal earnings produced, China got the
results they were looking for. In 2008, China received 51 gold, 21 silver and 28 bronze medals at
the Beijing Olympics. This put China in second place with 100 medals for the most medals
received under the United States who had a total of 110 (see Table 1). (BBC, 2012) Their major
goal though was not overall medals, it was the number of gold medals they received. China
wanted to dominate in all sports to get the most gold medals. They received 51 gold medals
which was a convincing win for first place gold medal count over the United States with 36 gold
medals (see Table 1). (BBC, 2012) They surpassed Russia in these Olympics to put them in
second place overall for total medals earned. This showed that the government spending and the
training that went into athletics for these Olympics were worthwhile in terms of their national
goal for achieving gold medals. The director of the Institute of Physical Science under the
General Administration of Sports estimates that each Olympic gold medal has cost Beijing
around $7 million. (Lim, 2008; Bernard & Busse, 2004, p.415) This price alone expresses the
intense support that was needed by the government to be able to support a nationwide effort that
produced such positive outcomes.
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However, in the 2012 Olympics in London, China did not come in first place with their
gold medal count. China had 38 gold, 27 silver and 23 bronze medals for a total of 88 medals
(see Table 1). (BBC, 2012) China did maintain their second place with overall total of medals.
As shown in Table 1, it is visible to see that although China did not earn as many gold medals at
the London Olympics as they did in Beijing, they still surpassed their earnings of gold medals
that they had earned in Athens. In London, Russia came in 4
th
place after Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, this could be an indicator that host countries tend to do better at their home
Olympics. This data does not show enough change to say that Chinas governmental funding was
or was not worth their investment. (BBC, 2012) This is data that will be interesting to track in
future Olympics to see if the increase of Chinas powerhouse was only due to the fact that they
were hosting the Olympics or was it a change for the future that we will continue to see China
dominate the medal tables.
Table 1: Olympic Medal Counts During Athens, Beijing and London for China, USA and Russia
Medals Gold Silver Bronze Total
Athens 2004
China 32 17 14 63
USA 35 39 29 103
Russia 27 27 38 92
Beijing 2008
China 51 21 28 100
USA 36 38 36 110
Russia 23 21 29 73
London 2012
China 38 27 23 88
USA 46 29 29 104
Russia 24 26 32 82

Infrastructure, Opening and Closing Ceremonies and Media Coverage
The Beijing Olympic games created a large media presence with the new infrastructure
that was built for the Olympics especially the birds nest venue named the Beijing National
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Stadium (Berkowitz, Gjermano, Gomez & Schafer, 2007, p. 173). This venue was talked about
in most media coverage including blogs, television broadcasts and newspaper stories. One
important aspect of this stadium was that it was made from steel that was manufactured in China,
which had only recently been manufactured because of innovative initiatives in China.
(Berkowitz, Gjermano, Gomez & Schafer, 2007, p. 173) The discussion in the media of this
venue primarily focused on how new technologies were integrated into this stadium. Two of
these technological advances were an increased sound system that made sure that everyone could
hear the broadcast, and temporary seats, which allows for seats to be arranged differently for
various events. (Berkowitz, Gjermano, Gomez & Schafer, 2007, p.173-174)
The world saw this venue for the first time during the opening ceremony. During this
ceremony people saw the rich history and culture of China through many high tech acts. CBS
Television has named this opening ceremony in the top 8 most memorable opening ceremonies.
This ceremony incorporated aspects of politics, history, culture, technology and modern design
to create a masterpiece that would show the audience a spectacle to remember. (Rayner, 2008)
The closing ceremonies normally do not compete with the opening, but many news reports have
concluded that the closing ceremony in Beijing was nothing like anything done before. Both
ceremonies were choreographed to perfection, using fireworks to light up the city and the
worlds television screens. China set a new trend during these games to have two ceremonies that
captivated audiences and provided a show for the world, integrated with history, culture,
reflections on the past and aspirations for the future. (Rayner, 2008)
China received considerable attention for these Olympic games and an increase in media
coverage that resulted in greater exposure and viewership than pervious Olympics. One focus
that the media concentrated on was the increase in Chinas medal count and gold medal
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powerhouse and how these accomplishments were made possible. China did receive negative
media regarding the ethics behind Olympic training boarding schools as to whether they are too
intensive for children as young as 4 years old.

Conclusion
This paper has provided an insight into the Beijing Olympics including an overview of
these games, how China implemented government funding for boarding schools and programs,
the amount of medals received by China as compared to the previous and subsequent Olympic
games, how the opening and closing ceremonies were received by the media and the public, and
the media coverage of these Olympics. The large increase in funding and rigorous training that
was implemented before the Beijing games provided China with their largest medal count in
their Olympic history. The medal count increased dramatically from Athens in 2004 to Beijing in
2008, but the question that can be asked is Was this funding and program creation sustainable?
As seen in the decrease of medals earned in London 2012, it suggests that this funding may not
be sustainable and that the success in Beijing might have been too much for them to handle
consistently in future performances. One aspect of these Olympics that will not be forgotten is
the opening and closing ceremonies in the birds nest that provided the world with a view of the
culture, history and politics of China. It also set a high standard for creating new infrastructure
and technologies for future host countries to compete with the level of success achieved in
Beijing. The Chinese government went for the gold and they succeeded in many aspects, but the
question remains is this enough to keep them in the Olympic spotlight in the future?



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