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Liu Jianhong, CCTV commentator
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It's time to think about Chinese sport after the Olympics.
Although the post-Olympic era has been constantly mentioned, only after experiencing a real Olympics can we truly deliberate on what the Olympics will have left us and how we should inherit it.
We are sure to top the gold medal tally but we all understand that this is only a victory in the competition venues. We are not a strong nation in terms of sport. Not so many people participate in sporting exercise. Not so many places are provided and not so much space or time arranged for students. Chinese sport has a way to go.
Many Chinese are still not very familiar with the rules of hockey, handball, water polo or baseball. In the stadium, the spectators are one of the greatest sights. But the strangeness of the competition rules leave them at a loss to know what's happening. This is not a problem that can be solved within a short term. And spectating etiquette can only be learned through attending more and more games.
Actually, this is a very big topic in terms of what we should do in the post-Olympic era.
The state sports system insured our dominance in our traditionally strong events such as weightlifting, shooting, gymnastics, diving, table tennis and badminton. Those events contributed a large number of medals. This system will carry on thanks to the training mode that has long been in place.
However, it can never promote comprehensive development of Chinese sport. If we want to catch up with our competitors in the professional events such as basketball, football and tennis, we have to find a way for ourselves. The market force opens a way and it's probably a good choice.
Even if we develop in professional sports, we still should not be satisfied. We must make more effort with the people's sports. School sport is of the most importance. We advocate quality education. We hope the next generation will be healthy and we expect our people to have a strong sense of competition. All in all, we have to develop sport for that.
We need to spare more time for our children to play sport, introduce good events to them and provide them better playground facilities and coaches. Only if it takes root in school will Chinese sport grow up to be a big tree.
The state system is the head, the professional sports are the tail and the people's sports are the body. If we have such a development, the dragon of Chinese sports will fly high.
http://liujianhong.blog.sohu.com/97827461.html