As this post is being written, the Chinese divers have won all seven of the gold medals at stake in Olympic diving. They have also won all but one of the gold medals available for men's gymnastics. None of this is by accident because China has turned itself into a nation where over one billion people are part of an huge athletic factory. It is certain that the Chinese will win the most gold medals at this Olympics, although the United States may end up with the most medals. Of what importance is this? To the Chinese government it is of great importance. So important that they use 13 and 14 year old girls for their gymnastic team and supply documents indicating the girls are the required 16 years of age.The extent of the intensity of the Chinese government's athletic training program is described in an article in Time. "Across the nation, nearly 400,000 young hopefuls in 3,000 sports schools toil to bring glory to their motherland. Most are plucked from elementary school and sent to train at these state-run sports academies before the age of nine regardless of their interest in athletics." Children much younger than the age of nine are taken from their homes with the permission of the parents who are given inducements by the central government. These children remain the "property" of the state and are discouraged from coming home by their own parents who have adopted the national motto, "Failure is not an option."
The extent of the fanaticism of this training is illustrated in another excerpt from the article in Time.
"One by one, the little girls walk to the wooden blocks and extend their legs into the splits, one callused foot balancing on each block, their straining bodies hovering just above the ground. Coach Yang Yaojun, his sweatpants hiked high over his belly, ambles over to the girls, smiles and hands the nearest one a stopwatch. The girls, who are six and seven years old, do not smile back. Teetering on the blocks, they wait as Yang straddles each leg in turn, resting his 70-kg frame on their outstretched limbs. No matter how tough the girls are, no matter how much resolve they have mustered, the tears come within seconds. They do not cry out, though. They just well up soundlessly and stare at the seconds ticking down on the stopwatch. After half a minute, Yang stands up and lifts the girls off the blocks. They stagger with the first step, their oversized thigh muscles visibly twitching. By the second or third step, the tremors and the tears are gone."
