A juicy piece of news about the diver and Olympic gold medalist Tian Liang has been reported by many newspapers this week.
Tian was fired from the national swimming combo following his way too many
“social activities”. In a note published on The First newspaper (竞报), the body regulating national swimmers training, the Swimming Center, points out:
1) Athletes have to highly regard their commitment to the 2008 Olympics and act in the interests of the motherland;
2) Athletes must keep on training dutifully for the Beijing Olympics and not be too involved in their own things every day;
3) According to the regulations of the Ministry of Sports they can participate in social activities, as long as their training is not affected, they get the relevant approvals from the Ministry, and are moderate;
4) Tian Liang has seriously violated the rules, causing a bad influence. Based on this, the Swimming Centre has decided to exclude Tian Liang from the national diving team.
Tian Liang’s comments about the firing were apologetic. He hopes to get back to the squad “through more efforts and sacrifice”. A few days ago the female diver and Olympic champion Guo Jingjing was re-accepted in the national team after a session of self-criticism following her, ditto, way too many “social activities”.
LINK: