Once taboo, athletes' love now blooms

Chinese athletes may not be delivering their best Olympic performance in Rio de Janeiro, but it seems they have improved in one aspect - expressing their love.

In front of a cheering crowd and broadcast live worldwide, Chinese diver Qin Kai got down on bended knee on Aug 14 to propose to teammate He Zi, who had just come down from the podium with a silver medal in the women's 3-meter springboard. She nodded yes.

"He made a lot of promises," He, 25, said. "But the thing that touched me the most is that I think this is the guy I can trust for the rest of my life."

Qin, a two-time Olympic champion, won bronze in the men's synchronized diving.

Although romance was taboo for Chinese teams until a decade ago, lovebirds are not so novel today.

Gold medal-winning shooters Du Li and Pang Wei became the first Chinese Olympic champion couple when they married after the 2008 Beijing Games. They had a baby in 2010.

To keep Du on track after the birth, head coach Wang Yifu allowed the couple to take their child to the training center. "To see athletes training with their children would have been impossible when I was an athlete," Wang said at the time.

In Rio de Janeiro, Du won silver in the women's 10-meter air rifle and bronze in the 50-meter rifle three positions, while Pang got bronze in the men's 10-meter air pistol.

Young players are more open-minded and unwilling to be restricted, and they should be allowed to have personality, Cai Zhenhua, China's vice-minister of sports and former head coach of the national table tennis team, said a few years ago.

It is a huge departure from the days when romance was considered a distraction and discouraged by sports management. In 2004, the table tennis team dismissed four players for romantic relationships, including then-world No 1 Ma Lin.

Thanks to changing attitudes, Qin and He won't have to choose between medals and romance.

Zhou Jihong, the team leader, said after the proposal: "I'm touched. As athletes, both of them have successful careers. I wish them a sweet life together."

tangyue@chinadaily.com.cn