(Sports Focus) Moving beyond medals, retired Chinese athletes struggle to find new paths

After skating for his final race, Wang Yang found himself struggling, trying to find a new life as a retired short-track speed skater.

"I worked as a roller skating coach in Gansu Province," a place 2,500 kilometers away from home, he said. But he says the job didn't last, because it was not what he is really good at.

For medal-chasers like Wang, the true sense of defeat stems not from setbacks in competition, but from the agony of bidding farewell to the sports they dedicate their youth to.

While superstars like former basketball player Yao Ming or former 110 meters huddler Liu Xiang leave the spotlight with prize money and a considerable reputation, ordinary athletes like Wang Yang are floundering in their efforts to secure employment.

Statistics show that many Chinese athletes pay too much attention to training and competition and too little to education, making them less competitive in the job market once they can no longer play.

According to official data, of the roughly 3,000 athletes who retire every year in China, around 40 percent of them become unemployed upon retirement. It is often reported that veteran medalists, at a loss as to what to do for a second career, have to make a living by selling medals or busking.

"I feel ashamed to see these former heroes become barely literate and unable to get a job," said Liu Jiangnan, former chief of the sports authority in south China's Guangzhou.

"Before leaving, the sport was everything to them, and they were everything in the team. After achieving glory, it takes them a long time to face up to reality," said an official for the sports authority.

Wang was lucky to have finally found his calling: the former skater who used to alter skating boots by himself went back home in northeast China's Jilin Province and started a workshop to develop home-made skating boots.

"Chinese skaters' equipment was all imported from foreign countries at that time. The boots didn't fit Chinese feet. In addition, I wanted to break the monopoly as a service to our country," he said.

Wang turned his workshop into a company to design, produce, and sell skating boots. In order to find the proper leather for his boots, he has been to all the leather markets in China's major cities. He even learned how to sew, and collected models for his product all by himself.

After years spent on research, today he is the official supplier for China's national short-track speed skating team. He is also happy to see the situation of his fellow veterans in the sport improving.

With the continuing development of China's sports industry, Chinese athletes have obtained more options in terms of jobs and more aid from the government, which seeks to build a "healthier China" and in the course of achieving this aim, to give a helping hand to its former sports heroes.

The State Council, China's cabinet, released a document detailing efforts needed to boost the country's sports industry and public consumption in 2014.

Seizing the opportunity, boxers Kong Mingyue and Li Zhaoguo also found their new paths.

After leaving the boxing ring, the two, from northeast China's Heilongjiang province, had to make their livings as street vendors. But after they received government-sponsored training as sports brokers in 2010, they co-established the province's first sports broker company, and today, are busy organizing sports competitions and training.

Success stories like this demonstrate that former athletes have significant advantages over their peers without this background, at least in terms of running sport-related business.

"We know athletes and sports better," said Wang. "We are also better at enduring hardship as we used to train very hard."

But not everyone is as lucky as they are. As college degrees are valued most by Chinese employers and a written exam is a must in many employment procedures, many veterans without a college education don't even have the chance to get a job interview.

"When we recruit a football teacher, those who can play can't pass the exam, while those who pass the exam can't play well," said Li Shunfu, headmaster of a primary school in Yanbian City, Jilin.

To solve the problem, the Chinese government is increasing its support for vocational education. Teachers are sent to training centers in Baoji City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, so that young athletes can have classes before and after training sessions. Thirty-one out of the 32 students who attended the college entrance examination last year were admitted into colleges.

But still, more efforts are needed.

"Coaches and sports authorities fear that this planning ahead for second careers may distract the athletes from training and competition," said Chen Liren, headmaster of a sports school affiliated to Beijing Sport University. "But the earlier they formulate a plan for their future and receive vocational education, the better they can handle retirement," he said.

Wang Yang, for his part, suggests the government pilot sports veterans' vocational training in some companies.

"Training or internships in these companies may help the group transform from athletes to employees more smoothly," he said.

Wang Qian, former vice-manager of Yanbian Fude football club in Jilin, said that China should also promote the incomes of coaches at the grassroots level.

"In this way, more athletes would aim to become coaches after retirement. And more extraordinary athletes and coaches could be cultivated for China," he said. Enditem

(Xinhua reporters Lin Deren, Wang Junbao, Zheng Xin and Wang Jimin contributed to this repor