It is clear that the assertion that foreign athletes are all amateurs is just a fairy tale. In Western practices, the term "amateur" is merely used to differentiate some athletes from others who get money directly from sports events such as football games.

In fact, the myth of the "shamateur" champion has been a myth since the Olympic Committee accepted professional players in the 1990s. Under the new rules, amateurs could receive money from means other than official prize money.

These so-called amateurs devote all of their time to training, just as Chinese athletes do, with some training only for their salaries.

French media tends to describe their athletes as "geniuses," which gives the impression that fitting in training sessions after work is sufficient to win global titles. However, even a cursory glance at a top athlete's training schedule will show that it is impossible to become a global champion without undergoing rigorous, full-time training.

Riner is proof of this. In an interview after claiming gold in London, the champion jukoda admitted that, during the past four years, he had trained hard for the London Olympics after missing out on gold in Beijing. During the interview, he raised the gold medal towards the cameras and said: "There is no secret [to winning] other than hard training." 

 

The author is Correspondent of the Wenhui Bao in Paris.

(The post was first published in Chinese and translated by Elaine Duan.)

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