China renews faith in state-led sports
A Chinese expert described his country's system for nurturing sporting talent last year as a “pagoda”, with a base of more than 185,000 children at 1,782 special sports schools feeding government-backed provincial training centres for nearly 20,000 “top athletes”.
“This kind of training system is the main resource in the future development of sports in China and . . . for winning good results in the 2008 Olympic Games as well,” wrote sports scientist Liu Dan.
The power of the state-led approach has been on display in the last two weeks, with China running a strong second place in the medal tallies behind the US.
The Athens achievement, which includes unprecedented Chinese triumphs in sports such as tennis and boxing, has been won despite the decision to field a youthful delegation of competitors in order to give them valuable experience before the Beijing games in 2008.
But even as China basks in the glory of its medals harvest a boon to a Communist government keen to bolster its legitimacy by cultivating patriotic sentiment some local observers suggest that the nation's approach to sport must change.
Such calls come despite the progress made by the People's Republic since it began taking part in the Olympics in 1984.
China's gold medal haul has risen steadily from single digits at games in the 1980s to more than 10 in the 1990s and now more than 20, says Jin Shan, a sports commentator and researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.
But Mr Jin notes that improvement will be more difficult in future.
“Although China gets a lot of gold medals, they are all in fringe events with relatively low levels of professionalisation such as badminton, table tennis and diving,” he says.
“We don't do well inbasketball and soccer. . . and don't have any advantage in track and field or swimming.”
Chinese sports mandarins have been careful to focus resources on those disciplines seen as the least competitive; a strategy reflected in the particular cultivation of female athletes who make up more than half the Olympic delegation.
Winning in more fiercely contested arenas will be harder, local experts say, and some fret that the limitations of Chinese body types will put a further cap on sporting success.
To counter any such limitations, the state sports system already stresses development of “scientific selection of athletes” using “biological and psychological indices”. And with a population of 1.3bn people, China has a huge pool of talent to choose from.
But there are increasing doubts about the basis of the state-led sports system, which in many ways is a relic of a socialist central planning mindset largely abandoned in the wider economy and society.
The system gives enormous clout to coaches and sports officials and opportunities for abuse. A recent investigation by state auditors found the top sports administration body has used more than Rmb100m ($12m) in funds from the Olympic committee to build staff apartments.
The system also means resources that could be used to widen sports participation are directed to a chosen few.
To compete in sports such as basketball and soccer, China's sports system must adopt an approach more like that of western nations, say some analysts.
“We should move quickly to commercialise sports and change from relying on cultivation by the state to a system that involves the whole population,” says Mr Jin.
Such a reform could also be good for the eight in nine children who do not make it in the current sports system, many of whom suffer academically for little or no reward.
China Central Television, the state broadcaster, recently quoted calls for a training system that would embrace market values while giving priority to “humane treatment and concern” for participants.
Any such change will not happen before the 2008 Olympics, however.
The government is determined to make every aspect of the Beijing Games a success, with plans for stadium construction, city reconstruction and even the development of new breeds of flowers that will bloom to order.
With Chinese competitors racking up the medals in Athens, it could be some time before officials are willing to put responsibility for delivering sporting success into private hands.
中国更新观念 反思国家办体育
去年，一位中国专家把国家培养运动人才的体制描述为一座“宝塔”，塔基是1782所特殊体育学校中的18.5万名孩子，这些体校为由政府支持的各个省级培训中心输送了近2万名“尖子运动员”。
“这种训练体制是中国体育未来发展……以及在2008年奥运会上取得好成绩的主要资源，”运动科学家刘丹(Liu Dan，音译)写道。
国家培养运动员的主导方针在过去两周得到了展现，中国在奖牌榜上紧随美国之后高居第二。
中国此前决定，让一个由年轻选手组成的代表团上场，以便他们在2008年北京奥运会前得到宝贵的经验。尽管如此，中国仍在雅典赢得了佳绩，包括在网球和拳击等运动项目上,取得史无前例的胜利。
中国沐浴在这次奖牌丰收的荣耀下，这对共产党政府来说是一种福祉，因为它渴望通过培养爱国热情，来为其政党提供支持。但即便如此，一些本国观察家指出，中国发展体育的方式必须改变。
尽管中国自参加1984年奥运会以来不断取得进步，但上述呼吁依然出现。
中国社会科学院的体育评论员及研究员金山(Jin Shan，音译)表示，中国取得的奥运会金牌数量一直在稳步上升，从上世纪80年代的个位数到90年代超过了10块，现在已超过了20块。
但金先生指出，未来要取得进展难度将更大。
“虽然中国得了许多金牌，但它们都是在专业化水平较低的边缘赛事上获得的，比如羽毛球、乒乓球和跳水，”他说。
“我们在篮球和足球上表现不好……而且在田径及游泳上也没有任何优势。”
中国的体育官员一直努力把资源集中在那些被认为最缺乏竞争力的项目上。这一战略在对女运动员的重点培养上得到了反映，女选手在奥运代表团中占了超过一半的人数。
国内专家说，要在竞争更激烈的赛场上取得胜利将更加困难，还有人担心，中国人体型上的局限性会限制他们在体育方面的成功。
为了克服此类局限性，中国的体育系统已经强调，要采用“生理和心理指标”，来发展“科学的运动员选拔方式”。作为一个有着13亿人口的国家，中国有个可供选拔的巨大的人才资源库。
但对这个国家主导式体育系统的基础，已有越来越多的人表示怀疑。从很多方面来看，这个体制是社会主义中央计划理念的残余，而在更大的经济和社会领域中，这种理念已基本上被舍弃。
这一体制给予教练和体育官员巨大的权柄，也提供了许多滥用职权的机会。国家审计机构近期一项调查发现，中国最高体育管理机构从奥委会那里挪用超过1亿元人民币(合1200万美元)，来修建员工公寓。
这一体制也意味着，原本可以用来让更多人参与体育的资源，被指定用于选拔出的极少数人身上。
一些分析人士说，为了在篮球和足球等体育项目上竞争，中国的体育系统必须采取与西方国家更相像的方式。
“我们应当更快地行动，让体育商业化，并从依靠国家培养的方式，转变为全民参与的方式，”金先生说。
在当前的体育制度下，十有八九的孩子不能最终进入塔尖，而那些落选的体育苗子，落得奖牌拿不到，学业也荒废。上述改革对这些孩子来说也许会有好处。
中国国家电视台中央电视台(CCTV)最近援引了一些人的呼吁，即建立一个训练体制，在采用市场价值观的同时，把“人性地对待和关怀”参与者放在首位。
但在2008年奥运会前，任何这样的改变都不会发生。
政府决心让北京奥运会取得全面成功，计划建造体育场馆，进行城市改建，甚至培育出能按指定时间绽放的新花种。
由于中国选手正在雅典夺取金牌，因此可能还要等一段时间，政府官员才愿意把实现体育胜利的责任交给私人去承担。
