The games, a shanzhai version of the Olympics, but without the gamesmanship are held every four years, have provinces pitting their best athletes against each other for, er, cash prizes.
"The stench of money has haunted the National Games and become the driving force in encouraging athletes and coaches to participate," Xi Jiandong, vice-president of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics told Sohu. Indeed, there was a hell of a lot of money at stake, with officials desperate to show the Politburo that they're the bees knees when it comes to producing athletic talent.
Shandong province offered its athletes a 350,000 (US$57,000) yuan bonus, throwing in a mansion worth over one million yuan (US$163,000). Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces offered 300,000 yuan (US$49,000) with multiple extra gifts and rewards while Shanghai promised a 500,000 yuan (US$81,000) bonus per person to its football team if they won a gold medal during the game.
Fencing player Xiao Aihua from Jiangsu province was awarded a four-million yuan (US$653,000) bonus during the previous national games. He has never won an Olympic medal.
Needless to say, the cash that was up for grabs caused a bit of trouble, anyone who's seen the insane crush at a Chinese supermarket that is offering 5RMB off peanut oil will get the general idea. A few of the highlights include:
- During the women's 10km marathon swim, two of the contestants became embroiled in a fight, with neither of them managing to finish the race.
- In the wrestling -- newly reinstated as an Olympic sport -- a heavyweight fighter from Henan was bitten by an opponent from Inner Mongolia. Online images showed him clutching his arm, heavily marked with red teeth-marks, and grimacing in agony at the referee.
- The Beijing women's rugby sevens team refusing to play the last minutes of their final against Shandong, accusing the referee of prejudice. Clad in their yellow kit, they stood in a huddle and simply let their opponents run past them and repeatedly score, eventually losing 71-0. The Beijing delegation later apologized.
Two of the sports, wrestling and rugby are due to recieve massive investment ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games, although it doesn't seem that the practice of offering cash bonuses for medal winners will end. In 2012, the State General Administration of Sports was offering 500,000rmb for gold medal winners, the sports industry has obviously upped it game.
