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OLYMPICS/ Team china


Weightlifting champion in provincial tug-of-war
By Chen Xiangfeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-10-26 15:21

 

Zhang Guozheng, 2004 Athens Olympic weightlifting champion, is at the center of a dramatic tug-of-war between China's Yunnan and Shanxi provinces since he will most certainly be a title contender at next year's Olympics in Beijing .

Zhang represented Yunnan Province during his gold medal win in Athens three years ago, but now he claims to represent Shanxi. Each province, in turn, has claimed Zhang as its own.

Olympic gold medallist Zhang Guozheng stands besides a barbell during a training session in a weightlifting hall of General Administration of Sports of China in this file photo dated July 17, 2007. It is highly anticipated that China's first 2008 gold medal will be from weightlifting events. [newsphoto]

Winning an Olympic gold medal undoubtedly brings global glory for both an individual and his country. But in China, winning is also a big deal for the province, autonomous region or municipality where the athlete has registered.

China's hukou, or household registration system, is the main factor behind this struggle between regions. Every national team member represents the province in which he is registered. The more champions a province produces, the more financial support it gets from the State General Administration of Sports (SGAS), the governing body for all Chinese sports. Moreover, a province's sporting achievements go a long way toward the political future of provincial officials in charge of sports.

In 1995, Zhang, who was actually born in Fujian Province, registered in Yunnan. Zhang's victory in 2004 made him the first Olympic champion from that province, located in Southwest China.

But Zhang decided to switch to Shanxi recently, claiming his contract with Yunnan had expired early this year, even though Yunnan insisted the rules allow it to retain the preferential rights to Zhang and extend the contract.

"Yunnan did not give me the basic salary in the last two years. They just want their interests from my sporting career," Zhang said, addressing his reasons for the switch.

Zhang's form began to slump after 2004 and the weightlifter said Yunnan refused to extend its contract with him because the province regarded him as no longer "a valuable person".

"Even after the 2000 Sydney Olympics, officials from the province's sports bureau showed hatred towards me, which made me so sad. I know because I only finished fourth in Sydney and they thought I had no value anymore," Zhang said. "To make it worse, in 2002 during my training for the national team, they did not give me any financial or medical support."

But officials from Yunnan told a press conference that it was Zhang who refused to sign the contract.

"I know Zhang Guozheng has switched to Shanxi, but it does not mean we have given up the preferential right," said He Guangyu, who is in charge of athletics for the Yunnan Sports Bureau. "Last year we asked him to register but he said 'no' due to the salary problem. Now he signed with another province and it's unacceptable."

In China, athletes have the right to choose their province of registration. Many, understandably, turn to those provinces that promise to provide the best financial, medical and technical support.

Zhang and Yunnan were in a honeymoon phase after the Athens Olympics. But it did not last long, as Zhang failed to win even the national championship in 2005.

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