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Olympics: British reporter upset at tough training
By Tom Knight (telegraph)
Updated: 2005-11-18 09:33
Matthew Pinsent says he is "shocked and disturbed" at the treatment of young
Chinese gymnasts preparing for the next Olympic Games.
The four-time Olympic rowing gold medallist revealed his sensitive side while
working for BBC Radio Five Live in Beijing.
Pinsent, whose trip to the city that will host the Games in 2008 was part of
his fledgling career as a broadcaster, claimed children as young as five were in
pain while training at a specialist sports school. He claimed a boy was beaten
by his coach, leaving red marks on his back.
In the second of three reports from Beijing, Pinsent watched a group of about
40 youngsters in training.
He said: "It was a pretty disturbing experience. I was really shocked by some
of what was going on. I know it is gymnastics and that sport has to start its
athletes young, but I have to say I was really shocked. I think it's a brutal
programme. They said this is what they needed to do to make them hard.
"I do think those kids are being abused. The relationship between coach and
child and parent and child is very different here. But I think it goes beyond
the pale. It goes beyond what is normal behaviour. It was really chilling."
Pinsent, a former member of the International Olympic Committee's Athlete's
Commission, who cited his ambitions to be a broadcaster as the reason for him
not contesting the recent election for the next chairman of the British Olympic
Association, added: "When I talked to the vice-principals, they said hitting was
against the law but then there were parents who want you to do it."
While questions remain about China's human rights record, the impact of this
story for the Olympics remains to be seen.
The International Gymnastics Federation promised to seek clarification while
the IOC pointed out that they would not comment on the reports they had heard
only at third hand and what was Pinsent's "personal interpretation" of what he
saw and heard in Beijing.
The IOC's medical commission produced a paper on The Training of the Elite
Child last week.
A spokesperson for the IOC said: "Without question, physical abuse in sport
goes against all Olympic values but it's important to make a judgment only on
clear facts. Only last week, a group of experienced international journalists
were in Beijing and had free access to athletes, including gymnasts and they
were very impressed by what they saw."
Pinsent said he believed that giving the Olympics to China was helping to
make the country more accessible.
He added: "I still think it will be a good thing but I have to say my
experience at that gym…"
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