Coach Michael Sanders alerted me to photos of young children training in China.
As Michael says, they “sure don’t look too happy”.
Why were these pics chosen for a Reuters slideshow rather than some of the smiling, cute photos they undoubtedly captured the same day?
One of the “themes” of upcoming media coverage of China leading up to the Olympics will be the cruel treatment of young athletes in the supposedly-Godless, supposedly-Communist host country.
On the other hand, my Chinese friends who trained under that system have told me horror stories. The scrutiny of Western media will, I hope, have a positive influence on coaches in China.
… a training session at the gymnastics hall of the Shanghai University of Sports October 10, 2007.
Students of the gymnastics class of Yangpu District Youth Sports School are all aged between 5 to 9.
China’s future Olympic hopefuls train at one of the thousands of provincial sports schools around the country. Even though these athletes might be too young to make the 2008 Beijing Games, they harbour dreams of winning Olympic gold in London 2012 or beyond.
REUTERS/Nir Elias – slideshow
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