Olympic champion Zou aims to expand preschool program
Citing benefits for the physical development of youth, five-time Olympic champion Zou Kai is calling for basic gymnastics training to be expanded to include preschoolers.
But the sport first has to gain a more positive image.
Like any other pursuit of elite excellence, gymnastics training can be tough and brutal — as depicted in some online photos of teary-eyed youngsters working on bars, rings and mats.
But that doesn’t represent the whole picture of the sport, said Zou, one of China’s mostdecorated Olympians and a current political adviser.
“Talking about gymnastics, adjectives such as painful and dangerous seem to always pop up in people’s minds, but that’s just a glimpse of the sport and we are committed to changing that stereotype,” said Zou, a National Committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Having won five gold medals in individual and team events at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, Zou witnessed gymnastics’ heyday at the elite level in his country but is now concerned about the sport’s future at the grassroots.
“I’ve been on top of the pyramid for so long but I am following the sport’s development at its foundation level all the time,” said Zhou, who retired in 2016 after failing to qualify for the Rio Olympics.
“The fact that there are fewer and fewer children getting interested and involved in the sport, even as a way for basic physical exercise, has worried me a lot.”
Affected by the image forged by harrowing photos and negative narratives of gymnastics training, Chinese parents have become reluctant to sign up their kids, instead opting for activities like taekwondo and ballet.
The lack of participation at the entry level has resulted in a shrinking talent pool, posing a challenge to the country’s traditional prowess in the sport that was exposed by the national team’s no-gold finish at the Rio Games — its worst outcome since China’s Olympic debut in 1984.
The national gymnastics program now has about 300 athletes registered in its talent reserve for the 2020 Tokyo