China's sports system delivers, but at a cost

By Liu Zhen

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's state sports system certainly has its critics but many of those who have benefited from it are convinced it remains the secret of their country's sporting success.

There are 23,000 state-supported athletes in the pyramid structure that makes up China's sports system and every gold medal the hosts claim at the Beijing Olympics will be a product of it.

At the base of the pyramid are schools like Shichahai in central Beijing, where children as young as six undergo training and dream of becoming the world champions of tomorrow.

"I want to play for China in the Olympics," 12-year-old Beijinger Yu Jingjing told Reuters on a visit to the school. "I want to be like Zhang Yining."

With the exception of Hollywood martial arts star Jet Li, table tennis player Zhang Yining is probably the most famous of the graduates of a school that has trained six Olympic champions, and is a typical product of the system.

"I have never bought a single bat or pair of shoes since I started playing table tennis at the age of five," Zhang, who won two gold medals at the Athens Olympics, has said.

"Everything was taken care of by the country and I have never worried about other problems, I only need to concentrate on table tennis."

One of over 200 model sports schools, Shichahai coaches more than 600 students in eight sports and at the same time provides them with basic general education.

About half the students pay their own way while the other half are the "professional reserves", who have all their training, academic and accommodation expenses covered to the tune of about 30,000 yuan ($4,000) a year each.

"The government invests a large amount of money in our school every year," said headmistress Shi Fenghua.

Trials are held annually to bring in new athletes to replace those who fail to make the grade as well as to allow coaches of provincial and national teams to scout out the talent.

The best students from the sports schools join provincial teams as "registered state athletes". The very best, like Zhang, join the national teams and represent China on the international stage.

In popular sports like table tennis, getting through to the professional ranks is extremely tough.

"We grew up under huge pressure, competing with each other," twice Olympic gold medalist Wang Nan said recently.

"None of us was an easy winner," she added. "We have to be the strongest to survive the fierce internal competition."