Canoeists to strike gold in Beijing
Gold medal-winning canoeists at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will receive a huge bonus of 1 million yuan (US$132,000) each, team officials announced.
The silver medalists will also be able to get 500,000 yuan (US$66,000) each while bronze medalists can get 200,000 yuan (US$26,400), thanks to a sponsorship deal between Beijing Yanjing Beer Group, a partner of the Beijing Games, and the Chinese national canoeing and kayaking team.
The move is seen as an incentive to inspire the fast-improving Chinese canoeists to achieve an all-time best at Beijing Games. Yang Wenjun and Meng Guanliang won the nation's first and so far only Olympic gold in the sport in men's C2 500m at the 2004 Athens Games.
"That is a huge inspiration for the squad," said Wei Di, director of China's Aquatic Sports Administrative Center.
It is little wonder Wei is so excited, as the prize money is the biggest amount ever promised to the little-fancied squad. Compared to other popular sports teams in China such as table tennis and badminton, in which athletes easily became millionaires after winning Olympic titles, things are relatively low-key for the canoeing team.
Yang and Meng were among the few Athens Olympic champions neglected by companies - they haven't made a single commercial since the win.
But this time it will be different. Apart from the 1 million yuan cheque provided by Yanjing, the champion canoeist will also get prize money above 200,000 yuan (US$26,400) from the State Sports General Administration for Sports, the national governing body of sports.
"Certainly we want much more than prize money at the Beijing 2008 Games. I hope our canoeists prove they are just as good as their foreign counterparts and lift China into a leading nation on the sport," Wei added.
Since hiring German coaching great Josef Capousek, the Chinese team has improved dramatically - they notched a dominant six gold medals at the 2006 Doha Asian Games and won six golds and five silvers at the two World Cup stops this year.
"We are going in the right direction and becoming stronger and stronger," Wei said.
The team is looking for at least two gold medals in the 2008 Games - ideally one in men's competition and one in women's.
China Daily
(China Daily 07/11/2007 page22)
