Chinese Athletes Went Through Hell for Gold

'Project 119' delivered medals at high price

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 26, 2008 5:16 AM CDT

(Newser) – China topped the gold medal tally at the Beijing Olympics but the road to glory was a tough one for many athletes, the Los Angeles Times reports. Judo gold medalist Xian Dongmei, the only mother in the squad, did not see her 18-month-old daughter for a year before the Games, while 15-year-old diving champ Chen Ruolin was ordered to skip dinner for a year.

China's Soviet-inspired Olympic training system, Project 119, assigned promising young athletes to certain sports to maximize the county's medal count. The Olympic hopefuls were left with little time to see their families, or even to study. The medal count may validate the project, but as athletes begin to balk under the strict regime, China is expected to move to a more open US-style system.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (3)]

China's Chen Ruolin celebrates after winning the gold medal at the women's 10m platform finals last week. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

China's Dongmei Xian, who didn't see her toddler daughter for a year during training, celebrates after winning the gold medal in the judo half lightweight division. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Cao Lei from China performs a lift in the women's 75 kilogram weightlifting final to win the gold medal. (AP Photo)

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You have no control over your own life. People are always watching you, the doctors, even the chefs in the cafeteria. You have no choice but to train so as not to let the others down. - Gymnastics gold medalist Chen Yibing

The sports systems of the United States and China are very accurate metaphors for our societies. China is a society run by engineers. - Jamie Metzl, executive vice president of the New York-based Asia Society

To achieve Olympic glory for the motherland is the sacred mission assigned by the Communist Party central. - Chinese Sports Minister Liu Peng

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Chinese Athletes Went Through Hell for Gold