Top athletes stay dedicated to university study, expert says

At least 80 percent of domestic high-level athletes are college students according to a rough estimate, an expert said recently.

Wang Jiahong, chief expert of the Soochow University Think Tank, made the observation after noting Chinese netizens saw Olympic gold medalist Ren Ziwei was moved out of a WeChat group for schoolwork recently, China Science Daily reported.

Ren, who won the men's 1,000-meter short track speed skating final at the ongoing Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, is a postgraduate at Beijing Sport University and wanted to make up his schoolwork, but his teachers expected him to focus on the events.

Among the short track speed skating team members, Fan Kexin, Wu Dajing, Qu Chunyu and Zhang Yuting are Ren's schoolmates, and Sun Long is from Northeast Normal University. Soochow has three of its own athletes competing at the Games.

Of all college athletes, some entered college after retirement due to the typical age range for their sports, such as gymnastics. About 40 percent of college athletes are on active service, Wang said.

Colleges have to adopt different plans for active athletes, Wang said. "For example, when some compete, they receive training for half a day and study the other half. But some colleges arrange athletes to finish their studies before concentrated training."

"The modes are different, but the ultimate goal should be conducive to their training and study." Wang said.