Zhang Shangwu's fall into poverty illustrates the challenges faced by China's elite athletes.
(Ecns.cn)--China's many beggars don't usually attract much attention. One, however, became the center of China's national limelight almost overnight when his image, bent over to collect his things in the entrance to a subway station in Beijing's bustling Wangfujing district, appeared on the blog of a passerby who had recognized him during their morning commute. The beggar's name was Zhang Shangwu and he was, as he told passersby over and over again as he begged at the subway entrance, a world champion.
The biggest star on the team
In 1985, a then 5-year old Zhang Shangwu entered an extracurricular gymnastics club in his native Baoding in China's Hebei Province. At 12, he was selected to join China's national gymnastics team, an elite organization of athletes training to compete directly at the national and international level. And, in 2001, at the age of 18, Zhang competed in the World University Games, winning gold medals in the men's rings and team competitions.
However, Zhang's gymnastics career took an abrupt turn after he ruptured his Achilles tendon while competing in the 2002 Gymnastics World Championships in Ghent. Although an injury of that severity "usually implies the end of a gymnast's career," the gymnast was nonetheless able to return to the provincial-level team of his native Hebei province. "At that time I was still about the biggest star on the team," Zhang recalls.
However, Zhang's relationship with his Hebei coach would ultimately thwart whatever chance he had of salvaging his gymnastics career. "The team coach completely failed to take into consideration my injured status," said Zhang. "He wouldn't let me continue practicing the rings event, [but rather] wanted me to compete in the all-around events instead." And, some of the moves his new coach expected him to perform were so difficult that "even before the injury I don't think I could have done them."
Understanding that his competition days were numbered, Zhang sought to return to one of China's sport universities, hoping to complete his studies and eventually become a coach himself. But, claims Zhang, he was prevented from doing so by the demands of his coaching staff. "The provincial team's leadership told me that if I wanted to go back to school, first I had to train in the comprehensive events. As to how long and what level of achievement, [they] never said."
A heart full of complaints
It was thus that Zhang, feeling that continuing to exceed his body's training capacity would have just been "a waste of time," chose, with a few tens of thousands of Renminbi and a heart "full of complaints," to retire from his 18-year gymnastics career. "At that time I wanted to go back to school," recalls Zhang, calling his failure to study one of his life's greatest regrets. "But that would have been impossible… By that time I had actually barely completed the second year of junior high school."
There is, of course, still some controversy surrounding the exact details of Zhang's retirement. Although he claims to have received only 30,000 RMB (about 4,600 USD) in parting salary and retirement insurance, and to have left the team with a total savings of 38,000 RMB (about 5,900 USD), team officials claim that Zhang received closer to 60,000 RMB, or about 9,300 USD, in parting compensation and that he chose to forgo other educational opportunities, choosing instead to seek his own career path.
Regardless, although Zhang sought to find regular work in order to support himself and his grandfather, who required ongoing medical treatment for a blood clot that had formed in his brain, he found himself unable to attract an employer willing to pay a reasonable wage and eventually drifted into crime. In 2007 he was arrested for robbery after he was caught stealing several thousand dollars worth of computer equipment from a Beijing University and sentenced to a prison term that was to last until his release in April of this year, amounting to a total of 3 years and ten months of time served.
Upon his release, Zhang turned to begging and performing in the streets in order to eke out a living. "First I went to Shijiazhuang; I made about 20 yuan a day there begging and performing…. When I said I was a world champion no one would believe me. When I was in Tianjin, I only made about 7-8 yuan [about 1 USD] a day." About one month ago, Zhang arrived again in Beijing, carrying only the backpack on his back that contained his previous medals and a photograph of him with his previous teammates. "This proof was useless. Only when I did Thomas flairs would people give me money." Despite this, Zhang remained in Beijing, continuing to perform and beg and receiving about 30-40 yuan (5-6 USD) a day.
