Be a sport and let sport be itself

Zheng Yefu gets passionate when he talks about sports. The Peking University's professor of sociology is nearing 60 but he is still an avid sportsman. He is an excellent swimmer and jogs regularly. He is a prominent sport commentator, too.

Since the Department of Sociology was under renovation, Zheng suggested the interview with China Daily take place in a temporary office in Peking University Gymnasium, one of the 37 venues of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. This is where China's table tennis team won four gold medals. In this very gymnasium, Zheng talked about how to dismantle China's Olympics-oriented sport system and build a more complete structure.

Chinese people call the Olympics-driven system juguo tizhi (whole nation regime). The State spends staggering sums of money on specialized athletes, coaches, officials and other staff in order to win as many medals as possible at the Olympics, Asian Games and other regional and international tournaments.