ny after a leading British Olympic medallist professed that he was shocked and disturbed by the training methods he witnessed there.
Sir Matthew Pinsent, the four-time rowing gold medallist, claimed that gymnasts as young as five were routinely beaten as part of their training regime.
He made the allegations after visiting the Shichahai Sports School, a boarding school in Beijing that trains gymnasts.
Others who have visited the school in recent months have also remarked on the harsh regime and the director, Liu Hong Bin, has talked of the need for “discipline and order” among his young charges.
Sir Matthew, who is a member of the British Olympic Association and a former member of the International Olympic Association, said: “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I was wondering whether it’s a kind of Western approach, compared to an Eastern approach. [But] at the end of the day, I definitely think those kids were being abused.
I know I’m an old cynic, but really – why on earth does he think all those pubescent girls from Eastern Europe always used to do so well? I guess we’ll see more and more of this (with women’s tennis, where the main criterion for success is having a nutter for a dad, leading the way) until the whole ethos of the Olympics is completely soured. Probably some time around 2012.
[As an aside, I’ve been forced to attend a few “inspirational” talks in my working life, but Matthew Pinsent’s is the only one I remember with anything approaching fondness. Nice guy.]
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