Essay Sample about The Chinese Olympic Training Camps

The Chinese Olympic training camps are an attempt by a country to inflict their superiority on the likes of other countries with no regard for the negative outcomes that the children may me exposed to. These camps choose children at a young age with the most potential to become Olympic athletes.  They inflict brutal conditions both mentally and physically breaking them down when they make mistakes and causing them pain. The children have no choice in their lives to decide what they want to do, they are robbed of their childhood and forced to train to become Olympians. This is highly immoral; I believe that people who want to become Olympic athletes should try their best and train hard, but I also believe that children at a young age don’t always know what they want to become, and I think they learn about their interests and skills as they mature, this forced training and mental training at a young age while at these academies will reinforce their thoughts and dreams to be about becoming an Olympian. 

Olympic training academies in China select and recruit children starting from the age of four to start their training to become future Olympic athletes. “Recruiters like Shen Chen visit hundreds of towns and villages in their regions testing thousands of children against a host of specific physiological criteria—It’s a scientific approach, from height to weight to muscle mass and posture, Jinwen Shi displays early signs of an Olympic champion.” (The Economist)  I believe this type of “recruitment” to be immoral the child may show early signs of becoming an Olympic champion but that is not for other people to choose as the child may not have wanted to become an Olympic athlete if not recruited to this academy. “Jinwen Shi has been in intensive training for three years, but she’s still only nine and yet to dream of the Olympics.” (The Economist)   This to me proves that the majority of these children do not have interests in these Olympic events when first recruited but when they are subjected to this repeatedly they are reinforced psychologically to train and dream for the hope of a future as an Olympic champion and then the possibility of what their lives might have lead to if the weren’t recruited is now gone. Another thing that could happen to these athletes that don’t want to become an Olympic athlete or show the interest that their coach wants them to may be that they are beaten into submitting to the idea that they will become an Olympic athlete. ‘Johannah Doecke, a diving coach at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis in the US, said female Chinese athletes are "literally beaten into submission". She told Reuters: “You wonder why the Chinese women are so successful? Most of the men are coaches. The women are literally beaten into submission. "If you said no to anything, you would be chastised, slapped around. It’s a brutal system."’ (The Sun: Braddick, Imogen)   This is the cruel system that China uses to create these athletes without these forms of recruitment and abuse and on top of that relentless training may be the strategy they use to break these athletes.

Chinese children in the Olympic camps are abused and beaten by their coaches until they perform to the coaches’ expectations. Many children have been injured and t with permanent damage to their bodies because of the abuse and beatings the coach gives them. ‘World championship figure skater Jessica Shuran Yu, who was born, raised and trained in China, claimed she suffered years of horrific abuse inside the brutal Chinese regime. She said she was often smacked with a plastic skate guard when she made mistakes - and she was once kicked so hard with the toe-pick of a skate that it left a permanent scar on her shin. Yu said a “culture of physical discipline” was common in the country - and athletes were often branded “lazy”, “stupid”, “retarded”, “useless” and “fat”. (continued) "The abuse started from the age of 11 when I started being told to reach out a hand whenever I made mistakes. "On especially bad days, I would get hit more than 10 times in a row until my skin was raw. "When I was 14 and going through puberty, I started to struggle with my jumps because I was gaining weight. I was called over and kicked on the bone of my shin with a toe-pick of a blade and made to try again. I wasn’t allowed to limp or cry. "Most of the time such abuse happened in front of other skaters in the rink. I didn’t tell any of my friends, adults at school or my federation, because I was incredibly humiliated. I was made to feel so small. It was dehumanising." ’ (The Sun: Braddick, Imogen)  The trainers/coaches have said that the new methods of training are a lot less brutal than what they had been doing before which is surprising considering the recent conditions that the Olympic champion mentioned when she was a coach. ‘Yu said young Chinese athletes were abused when she coached at a prominent training centre in Beijing. She said: "I saw one junior skater get hit and dragged off the ice, while another was pressured into competing on two torn ligaments, which left them needing surgery afterwards.”’ (The Sun: Braddick, Imogen)  This brutal method of training is not necessary, athletes in other countries are trained in far less brutal and aggressive methods and still go on to be professional athletes and/or Olympic champions. 

The parents of these children come into question; Why would they send their children to these academies? Why would they subject their children to these brutal conditions? Well, the answers to that may be that they are lured into it. ‘Many Chinese parents are lured into sending their kids to the brutal sports schools by government subsidies and promising Olympic careers for their children. It doesn't matter if the sports have mass appeal or if the youngsters have interest - if they are deemed worthy it is their duty to perform for the sake of the nation.’ (The Sun: Braddick, Imogen)  Yes, these children have the possibility of becoming Olympic champions but it is a very low possibility they will succeed with the risk of injury or even not being good enough to succeed. These children may have their childhoods taken from them with only the benefits of gymnastic training and education which may leave the children with few options when they enter adulthood. “Zhang Shangwu was once bound for the Olympics, now, he’s homeless and sells bracelets in the Beijing subway, an injury forced him to retire, when he was just eighteen.” (ITV News)  The lack of skills that the academies provide in many cases leaves these people who don’t make it with nowhere to go and none of the benefits that the Government told the parents the would receive.

In conclusion, the Chinese Olympic academies are an immoral way of training and may not benefit the children in the long run. These children are recruited at a young age even without the interest in gymnastics which may take away the potential of a happy and normal childhood. The children in these camps are abused and beaten ich may cause injuries and the of potential permanent damage to their bodies. The parents of these children are lured with the possibility of benefits that may leave the children with low to no skills when they embark on their journey through adulthood. This is all for China’s chance at superiority in the Olympic games and I believe that having these camps where children are abused and used is not worth the satisfaction of China winning gold medals at the Olympics.