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December 20, 2014

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Ups and downs of retired athletesDeng Yaping, 41, retired table tennis champion

WITH 18 world championships and two Olympic gold medals in her life, Deng never believed she would be good only at ping-pong.

Having started playing at 5, recruited to the Henan provincial team at 10 and national team at 15, Deng won her first championship in 1989 and was quickly recognized worldwide for her performances in a series of international competitions, including the Olympics.

“I had wished to become a ping-pong coach after retiring as most people did, but previous IOC President (Juan Antonio) Samaranch encouraged me to think about other ways to prove myself,” said Deng on an earlier TV talk show.

She started to plan her career before retiring from ping-pong in 1997. She got a BA in English at Tsinghua University, then a master’s degree at the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies of Nottingham University in 2002, and finally earned a doctorate in land economics at Cambridge University in 2008.

“From being dumb in English to communicating with professors fluently; from a total stranger in the country to having friends all over the UK, it took me no less effort to study in another country than to achieve a championship in ping-pong,” said Deng.

She worked as an Olympic bid ambassador starting in 2001, then became an official of the Beijing Olympics marketing department in 2008. She was named deputy secretary general of the Beijing Municipal Communist Youth League in 2009, and gained the position of deputy secretary general of People’s Daily since 2010.

“Many people think that we athletes can only work well in our own fields, but I will prove them wrong. We can beat our opponents in the match, but also work well in other fields,” said Deng.

Liu Fei, 35, retired acrobat champion

LIU Fei never expected that a hard life would soon begin after the spotlight left her.

Wining at the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships in 1998 was the peak of her career, but also the turning point of her life. Without more competitions to participate in since 1998, Liu and her partners were sent for a year of commercial performance, being paid just 1,000 yuan a month. Liu quickly retired in 2000 with a lump-sum compensation of three months’ salary.

As she spent most of her time training rather than studying since 14, she could not find any stable job. She was temporarily hired by an acrobatic training class as a coach, earning no more than 600 yuan a month, but quickly was laid off due to the school’s financial condition.

“People say that a champion can make big money, but it is just for the popular categories like football, basketball and ping-pong,” Liu told local media. “I was only awarded about 30,000 yuan for all the championships I had won, yet it cost my family more than 100,000 yuan to have me trained into a champion.”

According to Liu, she had to cover her own expense to participate in all the competitions. Her parents sold their apartments to support her career and now live with her in a 30-square-meter rented room.

“My sister trained together with me at first but quit halfway. It was a good choice for her,” said Liu. “My previous classmates who failed to be recruited by the Liaoning provincial team all got jobs. But look at me, I don’t know what I had been fighting for.”

Liu Xuan, 35, retired gymnast

RETIRED gymnast Liu Xuan is still in the spotlight yet on a different stage. She is now a star participating in entertainment shows, movies and TV series.

Gaining her first medal in 1992, Liu finished her athletic career in 2001 after winning China’s first gold medal on the balance beam in the Olympics.

Her cooperation with director Yu Zhong in “My Beautiful Homesickness” in 2001 gained her a bronze award as most popular actress of the year. Liu has acted in five movies and TV series since.

Liu also got her bachelor’s degree at the Journalism and Broadcasting School of Beijing University in 2006, and happily married a clarinet musician in 2012.




 

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