Inside China’s Horror Olympics’ machine where Children are Beaten, athletes picked in DNA selection
From humiliating punishments to invasive DNA testing, China’s prowess on the Olympic stage has come at a hefty price to thousands of children.
Communist Party-backed sports officials ruthlessly select and train competitors from an early age – with children as young as four being enlisted to train for glory at the Olympics.
With a colossal population of 1.4 billion, China has a sprawling state-backed operation that puts young athletes through brutal training regiments to prepare them for the world stage.
The country approaches sport with a level of precision, planning, and ruthlessness usually reserved for the battlefield.
Although China’s demanding state sports system has attracted criticism, it has also made it one of the most successful Olympic nations since it returned to the games in 1980.
The system is rooted in the Soviet model, which saw sport as a way of attracting prestige for the Communist system.
The state sends out scouts to hunt for tens of thousands of children for full-time training at more than 2,000 government-run sports schools.
It has also been reported for the first time at the Winter Olympics, China will be using DNA testing to select athletes for their physical attributes.
Inside China’s horror Olympics’ machine where children are beaten, athletes picked in DNA selection