Fighting, biting, alleged cheating and an extraordinary on-pitch protest have cast a shadow over China’s National Games and prompted renewed accusations that the quest for medals in the domestic showcase is motivated mainly by greed.
The quadrennial tournament — which draws to a close in Shenyang on Thursday — features teams from each province and region, as well as the military, emergency services and state-run entities in what is intended as patriotic and friendly competition.
Despite the worthy slogan of “Fitness for all to enjoy”, athletes are under intense pressure to perform, resulting in some extraordinary scenes during the Games’ 12th edition over the past two weeks.
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 a heavyweight fighter from Henan was bitten by an opponent from Inner Mongolia.
But the most striking image was 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.
Some officials did their best to give their athletes an advantage even before the Games started.
Hubei province said its tennis team included local heroine and world no. 5 Li Na, even though it was clear she would not be taking part as she was competing in the US Open. However, the sly move gave Hubei’s other tennis players an easier draw as collective world rankings counted towards the seedings.
In the synchronised swimming duet, Sichuan twins Jiang Wenwen and Jiang Tingting came third in their last contest before retirement. The gold went to a pair from the host province, Liaoning.
The Jiangs refused to attend the post-event news conference, instead organising their own event where they wept as they criticised the judging.