| Tuesday, November 13, 2001, updated at 10:06(GMT+8) |
Feature: Minority Regions Contribute to China's Equestrian Sport |
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Minority regions in western China "have made outstanding contributions to the development of China's equestrian sport," said a Chinese sports official while attending China's 9th National Games in Guangzhou.
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Minority regions in western China "have made outstanding contributions to the development of China's equestrian sport," said a Chinese sports official while attending China's 9th National Games in Guangzhou.
This is just contrary to the situation in economic sectors in which the development of the country's western regions relies much on the support from better developed east.
But in China's equestrian sport, said Chang Wei, secretary-general of China's Equestrian Sport Association, it is the west that has led the east.
Chang especially acknowledged the three minority autonomous regions of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Tibet, saying they were pioneers in developing the sport in China.
Regarded as an "aristocratic game," the equestrian sport, which started in Europe several centuries ago, was first introduced to China by Inner Mongolia in 1982 as a modern athletic event. It was listed as a competition event for the first time in China's National Games in 1989, at the 6th sports meet, with four teams, most from western China, participating in the competition.
"We have sent both coaches and horses to the eastern regions free so as to support the equestrian sport there," said Ulanata, the Uygur head coach of the Inner Mongolian equestrian team. "The equestrian team of Guangdong was actually set up with the two horses we provided to them," he added.
The Guangdong equestrian team has made such remarkable progress that they swept the gold medals in both the team and individual dressage events at the current National Games. One of the riders is a Uygur from Xinjiang.
At China's 7th National Games in 1993, the Xinjiang equestrian team played a dark horse to pocket all the gold medals. The secret behind their stunning victory was in their training: They were the first Chinese equestrian team that sent riders to be trained abroad. The team also took the lead in hiring foreign coaches and importing bloodstock.
The Xinjiang equestrians' efforts seemed to have paid off. Other teams in China followed suit, thus pushing forward the country's equestrian sport.
"We would not be able to advance our equestrian sport without learning from abroad," said Ma Zhong, head coach of the Xinjing equestrian team.
His notion is obviously shared by many of his colleagues. As a result, among the 12 teams competing in the equestrian events at the 9th National Games, 11 are guided by one or two foreign coaches, who from France, Germany, and other countries.
In addition, all the competing horses at the games are imported bloodstock which cost at least one million yuan (US$ 120,000)per head.
Although Guangdong grabbed the golds in dressage, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia remained strong in the sport, who shared the individual and team titles of the jumping events.
Chang Wei is happy to see this diversified development in China's equestrian sport. "There are potentially talented equestrians in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Tibet, which, with their nomadic tradition and vast ranches, claim advantage in human resources," he said.
Meanwhile, he said, the eastern part of China with its economic strength is catching up very soon.
The live televised coverage of the dressage and jumping events at the current National Games has helped make the sport more popular and better known to the Chinese public. This will certainly boost the fledgling Chinese equestrians, who are expected to make their Olympic debut in 2008, according to Sun Weibo, vice director of the Equestrian Competition Committee of the 9th National Games.
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