The USA and Chinese methods and attitudes towards sports are equally

effective at achieving success at the Olympics: how far do you agree?

The three Olympic values are friendship, respect and excellence: ideals to be achieved
through the union of countries for a celebration of talent and culture. Through the Games,
we discover those individuals who surpass all others in terms of physical brilliance. In recent
years, many of those individuals have originated from two countries, China and the USA,
whose teams consistently emerge top of the medal table. Yet beyond their success are two
contrasting cultures, and one can question how two countries with conflicting attitudes to
sport can find themselves equal in elite talent. I will be comparing sport in the USA and
China, in order to demonstrate the extent of the difference between their respective
approaches to the Olympics, and to determine their effectiveness.
In order to discuss this difference, it is important to establish the factors that contribute to
success at the Olympics. Helmut Digel, a Professor of Sport Science and Sport Sociology and
a former Vice-President of the IAAF, states that in any country, different systems affect highperformance sport; for example, the social, political, economic and education systems,
amongst others. The relationships between elements within these systems, such as the
private sector, mass media and employment rates, are what usually regulate the practice of
sport in a country, and these factors seem to particularly influence the development of
sport systems in terms of quality and quantity. In the USA and China, these systems differ
dramatically, and by considering in more detail the effects of these influences, we can
evaluate the countries success in terms of sport.
It is obvious that the system of values in the USA and China contrast considerably. In a
comparative study between the USA and China, it was discovered that Chinese people who
are highly involved in sport tend to have negative attitudes towards goofing off at work
because they believe it is unethical and counterproductive, whereas those highly involved in
sport in the USA perceive value in fooling around at work, as they believe it facilitates
teamwork and is a good way to socialise and develop positive relationships with co-workers.
This suggests that in China, sport seems to a greater extent to teach discipline, whilst in the
USA it is seen to encourage teambuilding and free-will. In terms of effectiveness, a more
disciplined environment is highly efficient and increases focus in sport training, whereas a
more relaxed environment increases enthusiasm towards sport, but can decrease
commitment and motivation at elite levels.
The contrasting sporting values of the USA and China are reflected in the methods of
training and selection for their national teams, and juxtaposing systems are used by both
countries. In China, a centralised top-down training model is utilised; this is expected to be
the most heavily funded high-performance programme in the world. There is a pyramid setup, with around five thousand sport schools filtering into province training centres, from
where the best athletes proceed to the Olympic centre. Children who have the optimum

physical capabilities for a sport are selected at a young age to enter the system, and their
basic talent is built upon with a progressive, long-term athletic development plan. For
example, Ye Shiwen, 400 metre individual medley gold-medallist, was trained in swimming
because her hands and feet were disproportionately large compared to her height. The
Chinese training methods are very strict, and use repetition of technique and skill to perfect
every movement, hence why China is traditionally strong in sports that can be trained for by
repetition. On the other hand, the USA uses a bottom-up system, where children naturally
develop by participating in Little League, then high school teams, gaining scholarships and
then participating in college sport, until they are recognised and selected for a national
programme and move into professional sport. It is only then that the National Governing
Body for the respective sport can become involved with the athlete. This type of structure
means that children play many sports in their childhood to develop better motor skills and
coordination, instead of fine-tuning a single skill like in China, and athletes do not have
access to financial support and training programs until a much later stage. However, once
recognised as elite sportspeople, the athletes have access to state-of-the-art Olympic
training centres, camps and high-performance leadership and coaching. Athletes are much
more involved in the policy-making and process of elite training compared to China (where
athletes are primarily the recipients of orders). Nevertheless, with less opportunity to refine
skills and develop their physical resilience, it can be argued that US athletes are not able to
prepare as extensively as their Chinese counterparts.
The different training models of the USA and China influence the sports on which they place
emphasis, and it could be argued that a particular focus on specific sports is what sets these
teams apart from other nations. Comparing Chinas medal count at the Beijing and London
Games, gymnastics, diving and weightlifting appear consistently at the top of its medal
table, and for both years, China took all gold medals for table tennis. In fact, China has won
twenty out of the twenty-three existing table tennis gold medals. This reveals a focus on
those events that require precision of movement and skill. We can also see that China
concentrates on the medal-gaining events, as three out of the top five highest-yield events
are Chinese strengths; after all, a single talented gymnast can win more medals than a group
of basketball players put together. China also recruits athletes to sports it believes it has a
realistic chance of winning (hence why glamour events such as athletics are partly
ignored). China does not ignore their weaknesses, as the introduction of Project 119 in 2002
proved. This governmental programme targeted sports in which China had not traditionally
excelled, to maximise the total number of medals won during the 2008 Olympics. In
contrast, the USA is a powerhouse at the two biggest sports at the Olympics: athletics and
swimming. Swimming, athletics and artistic gymnastics are consistently in their top three
medal-gaining sports, and at both the Beijing and London Olympics the USA won all
basketball titles. These events are the mainstream, popular sports focused on in schools in
the USA, which could be a reason as to why they are American strengths, considering the
massive population. From these statistics, we can see that both countries have an aptitude

for sports in which many medals can be gained. However, Chinas approach is much more
sustainable, as by minimising their weaknesses they are not becoming reliant on particular
sports, unlike the USA, whose dominance is becoming threatened as sports resources
improve in developing countries.
These particular sporting strengths are partly as a result of the political and economic status
of the two countries. In China, the Communist party maintains a very strong control over
sport. High-performance sport is directly supported by state taxes, and sportspeople are
granted privileges by the state. The Olympics is used by the government as a sign of success
as a country and its arrival on the world stage as an emerging superpower. Conversely, the
influence of the state in sport is nowhere near as pronounced in the USA, and highperformance sport is not directly supported by state taxes. However, the US economy has
the biggest influence on the financing of the sport system through a comprehensive
sponsoring and donation system. The US public are influenced by capitalism to view
professional sport as an entertainment commodity, and the promotion of capitalism has
been partly due to their competitive ethic. This mainstream competitive culture prevails
throughout all higher-level sport and it can be argued that the influence of the US economic
system is what epitomises American sport. Nonetheless, in terms of its effectiveness, I
would say that the Chinese system surpasses that of the USA, due to its strong purpose and
control. The American system may improve motivation towards sport, but it also decreases
the quality, due to an increased focus on commercial viability over the nurture of talent.
From these observations, one can see the clear difference between the sport systems of the
USA and China. In China, sport is an art form to be practised and perfected something in
which sacrifices have to be made, both on a personal and national level. In contrast, the USA
provides an environment in which sport reflects the American dream of freedom and
equality. In conclusion, I consider the Chinese methods and attitudes towards sport more
effective at achieving success than those of the USA, as they are brutally efficient and have
the capability to adapt. In my opinion, the USA, at the moment, has achieved a good
balance of elite excellence and national enthusiasm, but their dominance will begin to falter
as developing countries improve. Ultimately, I believe that Chinas constant strive for
perfection will put the nation ahead of the rest of the world.

Sources
Used
Comparative study of the US and UK: OCR textbook with great information on USA
values towards sports and history etc.
https://www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/FEAndVocational/SportsStudies/ALevel/OC
RALevelPE2008/Samples/A2PEStudentBookSamplePages/PEforOCR(A2)SBCH06.pdf
Project 119: information on Project 119, useful for mentioning in essay.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_119
Why is China so successful at the Olympics?: presents a range of opinions on this topic.
Most useful was probably from a person who formerly worked with the Chinese national
team.
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-China-so-successful-at-the-Olympics
Reality or Strategy? China Plays Down Hopes of Beating the U.S. in Gold-Medal
Count: Time magazine article discussing Chinese strategy, strengths and attitudes. Useful
for section of essay on training methods and attitudes.
http://olympics.time.com/2012/07/27/reality-or-strategy-china-plays-down-hopes-of-beatingthe-u-s-in-gold-medal-count/
Medal-Count Economics: What Factors Explain the Olympics' Biggest Winners?:
Useful to see how GDP affects Olympic success and how China is a bigger force than the
USA when GDP per capita is taken into consideration.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/08/medal-count-economics-what-factorsexplain-the-olympics-biggest-winners/260951/
Chinas Olympic Plan to topple America: Useful information on Project 119.
http://www.theweek.co.uk/26287/china%E2%80%99s-olympic-plan-topple-america
Ye Shiwen: marked woman of the pool: useful information on Ye Shiwens career.
Referenced in my final essay.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/ye-shiwen-marked-woman-of-the-pool8641547.html
Ye Shiwen: Can statistics explain her win?: factors that make her win seem questionable.
Not relevant to my final essay.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19116749
Chinese attitudes to sport: riddled with paradoxes?: short article on attitudes to sport in
China. Useful to see how Chinese people view success at the Olympics.
http://www.pekingduck.org/2005/10/chinese-attitudes-to-sport-riddled-with-paradox/
Chinese sport: its all me me me: explores how China is so much more successful in individual
sports, and why. Useful as refers to top-down model etc.
http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2013/09/chinese-sport-its-all-me-me-me/
Little red card (Chinese football): useful to see how China is much better at individual sports
than team sports etc.
http://www.economist.com/node/21541716
United States Olympic Committee: really useful for information on USA Olympic team,
selection process and training methods.
http://www.teamusa.org/about-the-usoc

Not used
Olympics 2012: the alternative medal table: unfortunately the graphics did not work in this
so I could not view the tables but it was useful in instigating the idea that the USA is in an
unstable position, where when developing countries gain wealth (GDP increases) their

success at the Olympics will increase (esp. at glamour events which are cheaper) and the
USAs will decrease, which I then researched further.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/datablog/2012/jul/30/olympics-2012-alternative-medaltable
Does money buy medals? Analysing the effect of GDP on Olympic success: Despite
lots of information didnt use in the end as the information wasnt entirely relevant.
http://www.yellowfinbi.com/YFCommunityNews-Does-money-buy-medals-Analyzing-theaffect-of-GDP-on-Olympic-success-117473
Heavy Burden on Athletes Takes Joy Away From Chinas Olympic Success: useful to
realise the extent Chinese athletes go to in order to succeed, but didnt end up using the
information in the end
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/sports/olympics/chinas-quest-for-olympic-gold-takestoll-on-athletes.html?smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto&_r=0
Chinese Sports School: Training or Torture?: account of Chinese sports school
Shichahai Sports School. Didnt use as it is quite biased.
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2011/07/chinese-sports-school-training-or.html
Ye Shiwen's world record Olympic swim 'disturbing', says top US coach: Did not use
as information slightly irrelevant (article on doping in China)
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/jul/30/ye-shiwen-world-record-olympics-2012
Lust for gold at all costs must end if China is to stamp out cheating and corruption, says
sports minister: irrelevant to my essay so did not use.
http://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/1856778/win-all-costs-attitude-gold-must-end-chinassports-chief-liu-peng
United States Olympic Committee: useful information but I didnt end up using as not
necessary for my essay.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Olympic_Committee
Top Two Winning Nations Cant Help Being Rivals: good information but not totally relevant
to my essay
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/sports/olympics/us-and-china-developing-olympic-medalrivalry.html?_r=0

Papers
Sports and goofing off work in USA and China: attitudes and behaviour: good
summary of attitudes towards sport in the two countries.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/European-Journal-Management/260792628.html
Gap vs. Effort: Comparative Study of Sports Attitude of College Students from China
and US: a bit too complex for my essay as involves gender as well.
http://benthamopen.com/ABSTRACT/TOCSJ-9-2587
Olympic medals and demo-economic factors: Novel predictors, the ex-host effect, the
exact role of team size, and the population-GDP model revisited: not particularly
useful as I already had any relevant information.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1441352311000489
Comparison of successful sports systems: really useful paper by Helmut Digel, a
Professor of Sport Science and Sport Sociology and Director of the Institute for Sport
Science at the University of Tbingen in Germany. He is former Vice-President of the IAAF,
amongst other titles. Discusses the different aspects that affect high-performance sport. I
referenced the sections on values, political factors and economic factors.
http://www.coachr.org/comparison_of_successful_sport_systems.htm

Videos

China and the Olympics: Shichahai sports school : Gives a good idea of attitudes
towards sports training and academics, and view of children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE3jc8v0ezc
Books
Project 119 by George H Stollwerck: informative (albeit complex).
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wkP5fWw9q8AC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=project+119
&source=bl&ots=9NrVFSIHP&sig=8ErRQYxUwkor5B0Y36ZbN3ZjTZY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwipzJ_JnvjKAhV
MuBQKHa6zAwEQ6AEITTAH#v=onepage&q=project%20119&f=false

Statistics
(I worked them out myself from the sources listed below)
Events that have the most medal opportunities:
1) Athletics 47
2) Swimming 34
3) Weightlifting -15
4) Shooting 15
5) Gymnastics artistic 14
USA:
Beijing 2008 -> London 2012:
Best five events (on medal count):
1) Swimming (31 medals,12 golds) -> Swimming(31 medals, 16 golds)
2) Athletics (24 medals, 7 golds) -> Athletics (29 medals, 9 golds)
3) Gymnastics-artistic(10 medals, 2 golds) -> gymnastics-artistic(6 medals, 3 golds)
4) Shooting (6 medals, 2 golds) -> shooting(4 medals, 3 golds)
5) Fencing (6 medals, 1 gold) -> tennis(4 medals, 3 golds)
Best five events (percentage of overall gold medals):
1) Basketball (100%) -> basketball (100%)
2) Volleyball (75%) -> tennis(60%)
3) Swimming (35%) -> football (50%)
4) Tennis (25%) -> water polo (50%)
5) Cycling-road(25%) -> swimming (47%)

China:
Beijing 2008 -> London 2012:
Best five events (on medal count):
1) Gymnastics-artistic(14 medals, 9 golds) -> Diving: (10 medals, 6 golds)
2) Diving(11 medals, 7 golds) -> Swimming: (10 medals, 5 golds)
3) Weightlifting(9 medals, 8 golds) -> Badminton: (8 medals, 5 golds)
4) Shooting(8 medals, 5 golds) -> Gymnastics artistic: (8 medals, 4 golds)
5) Table tennis(8 medals, 4 golds) -> Weightlifting: (7 medals, 5 golds)
Best five events (on percentage of overall gold medals):
1) table tennis - 100% -> badminton 100%
2) gymnastics-trampoline - 100% -> table tennis 100%
3) diving - 87.5% -> diving 75%
4) gymnastics-artistic - 64% -> gymnastics-trampoline 50%
5) badminton - 60% -> weightlifting 33%
Sources for my statistics:

list of olympic sports

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/sports
medal table london 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/medals/countries
medal table beijing 2008
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/medals/historical-medals-beijing-2008/countries
2008 summer olympics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics
-> for medal totals per sport

My research

Since my essay relies on factual evidence, I did not think it was appropriate to ask people
for their own opinions on the question since these opinions would have to be backed up
by fact.