Chinese athletes train in turmoil

Chinese athletes are training behind closed doors, have their temperature checked three times a day and cannot even share dining tables as part of strict measures against the coronavirus.

Beijing, March 11: Chinese athletes gunning for glory at the Tokyo Olympics are training behind closed doors, have their temperatures checked three times a day and cannot even share dining tables as part of strict measures against the coronavirus.

The outbreak has led to fears this summer’s Games could be postponed but the International Olympic Committee insists that will not be the case and Chinese competitors are ploughing on with their build-up.

The Chinese Athletic Association (CAA) is taking no chances, however, severely restricting access in and out of training camps at home and abroad.

Gong Lijiao, the reigning two-time world champion in women’s shot put, said that preparing away from friends and family only made her and her team-mates more focused.

“We want to fight bravely at the Olympic Games, win medals and inspire Chinese people with the spirit of sport,” said Gong, who won bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. As part of measures put in place in late January to ward off the coronavirus,

● the CAA says training camps, including equipment, living quarters and canteens, are disinfected regularly. At their Beijing base Gong and others must also pass through a disinfection chamber and there are limits to how many people can gather together. They are also banned from sharing a table while eating.

FOOTBALL LEAGUE ON VERGE OF COLLAPSE Shanghai: One Chinese Super League club is on the brink of going bust and a dozen lower-tier teams have already gone to the wall, indicating the problems facing football in China run far deeper than the current coronavirus suspension.

All football in China is indefinitely on hold over the deadly virus, but even before the shutdown a string of clubs had folded in recent weeks and several more are in grave danger.

It is a far cry from the lavish spending of 2016 and 2017 when Chinese Super League clubs, encouraged by President Xi Jinping’s ambitions to make China a force in the sport, repeatedly smashed the Asian transfer record.

Tianjin Quanjian were typical of the largesse that saw the CSL make headlines in attracting foreign coaches and players on world-leading wages. — AFP