Chinadaily.com.cn sharing the Olympic spirit
Prepare athletes for better life
By Gu Wen (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-02 14:31
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All's well that ends well. This is especially true for athletes who
retire after years of physical training and still want to lead a normal
life.
One example is Qi Kaili, a wheelchair fencing world champion who last
year chose to give up her career to become a mother.
The paraplegic athlete, who had experienced a grueling training regime
and multiple sports injuries to become a top wheelchair fencer, had been
one of China's best hopes for a gold medal at the Paralympic Games in
2008.
"I thought I should have concentrated on training for the Paralympics.
But at my age, I also wanted to have a baby," Qi said. "Everybody
respects my decision."
After giving birth by cesarean section six months ago, Qi, 33, has found
her son to be a bundle of joy. She works from home for a local website -
she managed to complete her college education while training -- and plans
on setting up her own e-business.
Another example is marathon runner Ai Dongmei, who is also happy now, but
only after she courted controversy by announcing her plan to make ends
meet by selling her medals online.
The marathon champion once had Olympic-sized dreams of running in 2008,
but she was forced to retire due to foot injuries four years ago. Without
education or savings, Ai and her husband, also a retired athlete, earned
a couple of dollars a day hawking cheap clothes. Ai, 26, is also
embroiled in a legal battle with her former coach, whom she accuses of
stealing her competition earnings.
"My time as a champion has passed. I have retired and I have to live a
life," Ai said, explaining why she wanted to sell her medals. "But my
heart is still hurting as there was no concern from my former team and
there was nothing in return for my years of devotion."
Many people have offered their help upon learning of Ai's plight. One
sanitary product company has reportedly signed a four-year contract worth
100,000 yuan ($13,000) with Ai for her to promote their products.
Ai has used the money to open a small clothes shop on one of Beijing's
suburbs. "I want to thank all the people who have helped me. I can live
the life I want with their help."
The two cases have highlighted the need for providing better care for
athletes, as well as encouraging individual development so they can
socialize better in future careers.
While Qi was lucky to be able to train and study at the same time, Ai
represents the bulk of Chinese athletes, who graduate from the
traditional training system with many injuries but often without the
proper education and other skills.
The traditional system pools the best talent and puts its through an
intensive training program. As this needs time to improve -- possibly
evolving into a range of university-based sports programs - the country
should do more to help athletes prepare for life after retirement, rather
than over-emphasizing achievements and personal sacrifices.
There is one more example of how retired athletes could be better taken
care of.
In 1992, when double Olympic gold medalist Gao Min auctioned her medal
from the Barcelona Games for 780,000 yuan to finance Beijing's Olympic
bid, the "Diving Queen" had not expected Liu Ji, a top national sports
official at the time, would be the first to object.
"Think what's going to happen after you become old," he told the
about-to-retire 22-year-old. "You have many sports injuries and should
you come back to us for money one day because you have financial
difficulties, we would both be very sad. I would blame myself for having
been irresponsible."
Gao then donated about 10 percent of the proceeds to set up a sports
scholarship program in her hometown. She kept the rest to finance her own
studies in the United States.
Liu felt relieved when Gao later told him that the money helped her a
lot. Taking good care of athletes, he said, was the biggest satisfaction
he could derive as a sports official.
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