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Prepare athletes for better lifeBy Gu Wen (China Daily)Updated: 2007-06-01 09:39 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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