Chinese sports put high value on social responsibility

Key Words:sports;CCTV Sports Personality; award

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The 2012 CCTV (China Central Television) Sports Personality Awards Ceremony was recently held in Beijing. Industry insiders revealed that the prizes were awarded based on athletes’ performance in major competitions, the social influence of related sports, and public opinion on athletes and sports teams.

The Chinese national swimming team became the biggest winner at the ceremony because of its remarkable achievements in the London Olympics and the great social influence of swimming.

“Gold medals are no longer the only criterion for excellent athletes. We also look at whether they have developed comprehensively, shown kindness and the sense of responsibility, and are able to become good role models for young people. The number of gold medals for a competitive sport does not matter much anymore. What is important is its cultural influence in the world and related management level and team culture,” a judge said.

More and more Chinese sportspeople are helping domestic sports teams abandon their obsession with gold medals. Winter Olympic champion Yang Yang said that the historical mission of Chinese athletes has changed. “In a match, our goal is to win, but that is no longer our only goal. We have learned to shoulder more social responsibilities. Excellent athletes have a duty to share success with more people, and turn individuals’ success into the society’s wealth.”

“Gold medals represent the highest honor of competitive sports. Pure sporting spirit is demonstrated in the process of an athlete beating all opponents and finally winning the gold medal. I think athletes can promote public welfare and inject positive energy into the society by sharing their life experiences of struggling hard for success,” said Gao Hong, former goalkeeper for China women's national soccer team.

The Chinese Olympic Committee and certain sports teams have attached greater importance to digging athletes’ public welfare values in recent years. When athletes promote public welfare, the brand value of the committee, athletes, and sports teams has increased steadily.

Nelson Mandela once said that sport has the power to change the world, but Chinese sportspeople probably have not realized or do not believe that they can grasp this power.

Source:China Youth, author: Ci Xin.

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