Olympian wants more support for retired athletes

By Lei Lei (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-14 06:23

Retired athletes should be treated in the same manner as retired soldiers, CPPCC member Ye Qiaobo suggested at the fifth session of the 10th CPPCC.

"Athletes are engaged in a special profession with high risks, so after they retire they should be treated the same way as demobilized soldiers are treated in the age of peace," said Ye, who claimed China's first medal at the Winter Olympic Games in 1994.

Ye is also on the staff of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games.

She said demobilized soldiers benefited from several preferential policies, such as the possibility of reduced or suspended tax rates on income. Injured soldiers get half-price train and plane tickets and receive pensions tailored to the severity of their injuries.

By contrast, athletes enjoy no such policies, and as a result, many of them have a below-average standard of living.

"Athletes must choose a second career after withdrawing from the world of sport, and many of them go into retirement suffering from injuries. While the whole country watches its first home Olympic Games in 2008, cheering on the country's athletes to grab a bigger share of gold medals, we should also pay more attention to their lives," Ye said.

With social concerns taking center stage at this year's sessions of NPC and CPPCC, the plight of retired athletes drew much attention from CPPCC members.

Ye has been researching the livelihoods of retired athletes for more than two years and is deeply concerned about the situation.

She said about 50,000 people register as athletes every year in China, and at least a quarter of that number retire each year. Most of them become athletes by choice, and only a small number can be expected to be able to fill certain positions after years of dedication to sport.

Retired athletes who have never won any major awards cannot expect to be covered by insurance since few insurance companies offer them policies.

Ye said some cases had shocked her deeply. Olympian wants more support for retired athletes

Cai Li, a weightlifting gold medalist at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, worked as a security guard after retiring in 1997 and died of a respiratory disease in 2003. His condition was caused by years of hard training.

Cai's sister, Cai Hong, said he earned less than 1,000 yuan ($129) a month between 2000 and his death.

A more recent case came from Ye's hometown of Changchun, the capital city of Northeast China's Jilin Province.

Weightlifter Zou Chunlan, who won several national titles in her sports career, worked at a bathhouse after retiring and found it impossible to find a better position due to injuries she sustained while training. Only with the help of the local branch of the Women's Federation did she find work running a laundry shop last year.

"With the development of the market economy in China, more and more work positions need to be filled by qualified, talented people. But since most athletes pick up sports early and receive only limited formal education, few of them are qualified for professional posts," she said.

Ye suggested that preferential policies should be given to the organizations that receive retirees.

"We need beneficial policies to encourage more organizations to support Chinese sports and help find positions for athletes," she said. "Such policies should be listed in China's Sports Law."

Ye said ensuring that athletes have more access to education would help solve the problem at its roots.

"We could try to run a basic sports school within primary schools. Professional sports teams could have special schools within middle schools, and the national teams could be set up at colleges and universities," Ye told China Daily. "Then, athletes could make use of the educational resources of schools and at the same time, regular students could share sports facilities with professional athletes, benefiting both sides."

Ye also urged strict supervision of policies aimed at helping athletes.

"All such policies should be protected by laws, and people who violate them should be punished," she said.

(China Daily 03/14/2007 page5)