Thread by @Telegraph

🤸The young children training for Olympic glory.

🇨🇳China's notoriously demanding state sports system has attracted legions of critics but has also made one of the most successful Olympic nations

@telegraphworld Thread ~ 🧵👇

telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/1…

🥇 Despite the tough drills, officials say the focus is now on 'happy gymnastics' rather than securing medals.

AFP have gained access to China's gymnastics training centres over the past 4 years, chronicling the lives of children who are being honed for Olympic glory

💪"We are more relaxed now. In the past, we certainly hoped to produce lots of champions," said Liu Fen, deputy headmaster at Li Xiaoshuang school.

"But now society and people's minds are changing, so our training mode is also changing"
telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/1…

The Tokyo Olympics, starting in July, will be the culmination of years of training for China's top gymnasts.

♦️ Pressure to succeed is high, after China's gymnastics team failed to win gold at Rio 2016 - eight years after they dominated at the Beijing Games

At the national training centre in the capital Beijing, the Chinese flag adorns a wall along with a red banner saying: "Win the Tokyo Olympics"
telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/1…

There is little room for error for the young athletes.

📌 They bow to coaches in apology if they are not up to scratch
📌 Bad performance is punished with extra weight training at the end of a long day
telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/1…

📚 Li Xiaoshuang school provides academic lessons for its students but the main focus is afternoon training in the large gym.

🛌 At night, they sleep in bunk beds - two sharing the top mattresses, two in the lower berths, in dormitories

❌💬After growing resistance among parents to committing their children to this uncompromising world, there are hints of change.

"If you always follow the old training model to teach, it won't work," said Ms Liu, the deputy headmaster
telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/1…