Adviser calls for reform of China's sports system

BEIJING, Mar 13 (Reuters) China needs root and branch reform of its sports system if it is to continue producing world and Olympic champions, according to a member of the advisory body to the national parliament.

Ye Qiaobo, a former speed skater who was her country's first Winter Olympic medallist, believes that without reform, improving economic conditions and China's ''one child policy'' will make it increasingly difficult to attract youngsters to sport.

''This is the very reason why I raised the proposal,'' Ye, who won a breakthrough silver in the 500m speed skating at the 1992 Albertville Olympics, told Reuters in an interview.

''I hope the society can be open and fully accept the retired athletes to guarantee their living standards and self-development.

''Otherwise parents will be unwilling to let their only child do sport. Currently there are fewer and fewer kids becoming athletes ...'' Improving conditions for children and retired athletes were the main focus of a paper Ye presented last week to the sports committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Among Ye's proposals are integrating the sports system with the mainstream education structure; insurance and pension schemes for athletes; careers advice, training and special dispensation on university entrance for retired athletes as well as tax breaks for companies employing them.

The fate that can befall retired athletes was starkly illustrated by the case of a former weightlifter discovered living in poverty in Ye's home city of Changchun last year.

Zou Chunlan won several national titles between 1987 and 1993 but was working in a bathhouse having found it impossible to find better work, in part because of ill-health she blamed on the drugs she was given during her career.

HUGE DISADVANTAGE Ye started skating at the age of nine, and three years later joined the Army team. By 16, she was in the national set-up with precious little time for school work -- a huge disadvantage in China's highly-competitive education system.

Despite going on to win 14 world titles, two Olympic silvers and a bronze medal, Ye too might have been left on the scrapheap had she not decided to take her education into her own hands.

''For myself, I am a retired athlete so I know this problem does not only exist in China but also elsewhere in the world,'' said the 42-year-old, whose proposals formed the basis of her doctorate thesis.

''Those who finally leave what they have been doing to return to normal society and find another job can be world champions, or just ordinary professionals.'' Ye, who now works on the torch relay for the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), would also like to see a change in the national obsession with the gold medal tally at next year's Games.

''The more important things are the Olympic spirit and public participation,'' she said. ''This great event is our dream ... and gives us such a significant platform to exhibit our achievements of economic growth and the improvement of peoples' lives.

''These are more important than the obsession with gold medals ... It's a kind of narrow patriotism or ultra-nationalism and it will put extra pressure on the athletes.'' REUTERS SAM RN1427