A six-pack at age seven as China grows hungry for Olympic glory
A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy with an incredibly ripped torso has shocked China – and put the spotlight on the country’s desperate attempt to catch up with Britain at the Olympics.
Chen Yi, a young gymnast from the eastern city of Hangzhou, became a Chinese internet sensation earlier this week when images of him showing off his physique were shared online.
The boy gained national fame after winning six gold medals and a silver at a gymnastics tournament.
Zhang Hongyu said her son had athletic ability from a very early age, and could perform one-handed pullups on a horizontal bar when he was just two.
“He started walking when he was just 11 months old, and learned to ride a bicycle before kindergarten,” she told local media. At the age of five he began attending a state school which specialises in gymnastics training as well as a private gym which caters for children.
Scores of gyms for young athletes have emerged since cracks appeared in China’s Soviet-style sports system about five years ago.
The old system saw the country nurture its athletes by focusing on an elite group from an early age.
But the emergence of Britain as an Olympic powerhouse saw Beijing change tactics, instead stimulating popular appeal within sports.
China won 11 gymnastics golds at the Beijing Games in 2008, but none in 2016 in Rio, where Great Britain won seven gymnastics medals, including two golds.
A report in the Yangtze Evening News said parents often enrol their children with child gyms because of obesity fears.
But Chen’s coach at the Hangzhou Street Show Parkour Club, Zhao Xueqiang, said potential success in competition also motivated parents. “Of course, Chen’s gold medals are appealing for other parents to join our private gym,” he said. Additional reporting by Christine Wei