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Help for athletes who run their course

By Huang Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-30 14:57

Yang Yang (third from right), attends the launching ceremony of the Champion Foundation together with officers of the Chinese Red Cross Foundation and the International Olympic Committee at Beijing Sport University. [Photo/China Daily]

Charity foundation established to take care of retired medalists

BEIJING - Athletes enjoy plenty of public attention when they are in their prime, but who cares about their life after they retire?

One woman certainly does. Chinese Olympic gold medalist Yang Yang launched a charity foundation last week to take care of them.

Yang Yang was China's first champion in the Winter Olympic Games in 2002 when she won the Olympic gold medal for the women's short-track speed-skating in Salt Lake City. Currently, she is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The Champion Foundation is jointly organized by the Chinese Red Cross Foundation and a Hong Kong-registered charitable foundation initiated by Yang on May 24, with support from the IOC.

It consists of two programs - one that aims to facilitate a retired athlete's career by providing consultation and occupational skills training and one that encourages more sport in schools and communities, especially for adolescents.

The retired athlete career program is available to any athlete, no matter what achievements he or she accomplished. It includes those who achieved nothing throughout their lives as an athlete.

"Many retired athletes feel lost and face a lot of uncertainty about their future. The most important part of this program is that it helps you to identify yourself, what you really like, what your talents are, what might suit you," Yang Yang said, adding that she experienced a sense of uncertainty when she first retired.

"It's difficult for most retired athletes to get accustomed to the new phase in their lives, when they have to deal with many things by themselves - for example, getting married and having a baby, for which a stable job is necessary," said Li Xiaopeng, a many-times world and Olympic gymnastics champion.

"I'm very delighted to participate in the Champion Foundation as an ambassador of the program, and I hope I can learn a lot from it and do what I can to benefit athletes both in service and in retirement," Li added.

The first term of the program will be conducted among the champion class of Beijing Sport University. All services supplied by the program are totally free for participants, Yang said.

Subsequently, the program will offer door-to-door services to more athletes who need it.

She added that in the long run, the program is not only available to athletes from the national team, but also those from provincial teams and other teams at regional level.

"The only thing we ask for from the athletes is their passion for the future," Yang said.

In China, about 3,000 athletes retire annually. Some, such as ping-pong champion Deng Yaping, gymnast medal-winner Liu Xuan and diver Tian Liang made successes of themselves after retiring from sport. Deng is the general manager of a Chinese search engine company, Liu works in the entertainment industry and Tian runs a diving school. However, most retired athletes find it is hard to find an ideal job or to cope with the change in lifestyle.

Zou Chunlan is a female weightlifter who won the national weightlifting championships in 1988 and retired in 1993. She then fell on hard times and had to work in a public bathhouse to earn a living, albeit a small one of less than 500 yuan ($77) a month.

With the help of the All-China Women's Federation and other social organizations, Zou overcame her problems and now runs a laundry in Changchun, in Northeast China's Jilin province.

The Champion Foundation is expected to play an important role in preventing other retired athletes from falling into poverty.

The foundation program will be conducted according to the principles of the International Olympic Committee Athlete Career Program, associated with China's General Administration of Sport's arrangements for retired athletes.

The IOC's Athlete Career Program came into operation in 2005 and has been extended to more than 20 countries and regions. Beijing Foreign Enterprise Human Resources Service Company operates in a joint venture established with the world's largest human resources provider Adecco to offer employment channels to athletes under the umbrella of the IOC.

"The foundation program has offered a new platform for athletes' cultural education and social security," said Yu Zaiqing, deputy director of the General Administration of Sport.

"I hope this program will help more retired Chinese athletes end their careers and move on successfully as well as enabling them to acquire more comprehensive work skills," said Patrick Glennon, head of the project for Adecco in the International Olympic Committee Athlete Career Program.