Sang Xue 桑雪

Recently, it was revealed that former Olympic gold medalist Sang Xue will be a contestant on the Chinese reality TV talent show “Extraordinaire”. The news stirred up quite a debate on Chinese internet forums about Sang's true motives given her former glory as a member of the Chinese National Diving Team. Some people have explained that Sang had wanted to test the water of the entertainment industry by participating in the reality TV show, in the hope of becoming a celebrity to earn funds to help pay for her mother's medical expenses; others, however, think that Sang is doing this to promote her own interests and create publicity for herself. Theories about Sang's true motives are many and someone had even used her former affiliation with the National Diving Team to dig up dirt about the inner workings of management for the 'Dream Diving Team'.

In one internet forum, someone claiming to be a former teammate of Sang has revealed what he said to be truths about corruption in the management of the National Diving Team: Officials had the power to influence the decision of which athletes get to compete in the Olympic games; if their chosen competitor wins gold, they take a large portion of the athlete’s cash bonus for themselves. He proceeded to give an example by explaining that Sang Xue was a gold medalist for the synchronized diving event at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and she was given a cash bonus of 80,000 RMB by the government – of which barely 10,000 RMB reached Sang in the end. Sang was 16 years of age at the time and had the talent to remain on the Diving Team, but instead she was later cut. The supposed former teammate revealed that this was because she had trouble getting along with an official on the team and couldn't be allowed to remain on the team for that reason. He did not name the official, however, but instead chose to hint at the fact that interested Chinese netizens could discover the answer for themselves just by looking back through some of the old newspaper reports about the Diving Team and Sang.

Sang Xue was not only a former Olympic gold medalist, but she had also achieved numerous honors in her career as an athlete, including medals and awards for excellent achievement and being an outstanding member of the Youth League of the CPC. But her quality of life did not improve as she amassed more medals and honors. She had worked in restaurants part-timed as a waitress and had even thought about selling her Olympic gold medal for some extra cash during her most difficult time. Sang's most recent decision of trying to break into the entertainment industry is really just a way for her to try and earn her keep, which reveals the underlying problems with how the National Diving Team is managing their athletes and their careers.

After being cut from the team, Sang was left in a difficult position to try and find a place for herself in society as a former Olympic gold medalist. She tried breaking into the entertainment industry, as many former Chinese gold medalists had done before, but it was not easy for her. People are now questioning the true motive behind her participation in the reality TV show, saying that she's only using this as a platform to gain publicity for herself. But most Chinese netizens have not realized that her problems run deeper than trying to establish a career in entertainment: Sang simply doesn’t not have enough funds to look after herself or her sick mother. Sang's story really reveals how most athletes, who have brought great honors to the nation, are not properly compensated and looked after - many of them having to resort to selling merchandise as street vendors or setting up small shops in order to survive. Behind their glory and honor, most former Olympic medalists remain under-appreciated and are basically cast aside after retiring – a truly sad situation indeed.

Source: ifeng.com

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Keywords: Sang Xue Olympic diver Sang Xue Chinese reality TV Extraordinaire Chinese reality TV program corruption management National Diving Team Corruption in Chinese athletics