The Great Women of China

BEIJING -- Here is China's secret formula for topping the Olympic medal tally: two X chromosomes.

WSJ's Mei Fong reports that Chinese women athletes consistently outperform their male counterparts. She explores the reasons why. (June 13)

In China, it's the women who have traditionally racked up the medals. At the 2000 Games in Sydney, the Chinese women won five more gold medals than the men. In Athens in 2004, the women won 19 gold medals, while the men won 12. By comparison, American women accounted for 12 of the nation's 35 gold medals in 2004.

Although many Chinese athletes have yet to qualify for their 2008 Olympic berths, women are widely expected to outdo the men again this summer. Wrestling coach Zhang Zhetian says the country's best odds for a wrestling medal lie with the women's team. His reasoning? Women work harder. "Guys -- you've got to push them more," he says.

"Women know how to eat bitterness," says tennis coach Sun Jinfang. (The saying "chi ku," or "eat bitterness," in China denotes a willingness to suffer and endure back-breaking work.) Ms. Sun has helped usher four doubles players into the Women's Tennis Association's top 30; no male Chinese tennis players are world-ranked.

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Gymnast Mo Huilan

The disparity is apparent at Beijing's Xiannongtan Sports School, where boys and girls train separately under bright red banners with messages like, "Grow in Painful Struggle and Develop in Spurts."

In the women's ping pong hall, the tables are newer and slightly fancier than in the men's section, splashed with logos of sponsors such as Japanese company Mizuno Corp. There are no visible logos on the men's side. Xiannongtan's director Hu Xiaobing said the female ping pong players attract more money and sponsors.

Academics say China has long held a historical reverence for strong women, such as folk hero Hua Mulan and idealized Rosie-the-Riveter-type Communist propaganda heroines. This created a space where women who were loyal, filial or gave service to the nation were elevated.

"You have to give it to Communists. They glorified the suffering of the oppressed. And that includes women," says Susan Brownell, a professor of anthropology at the University of Missouri in St. Louis who specializes in Chinese sports.

Since its inception a half-century ago, China's massive state-funded sports system has provided roughly equal financial support to men and women. For both sexes, everything is paid for, from medical treatments to training abroad.

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Soccer player Zhang Na

The government recognized that medals won by either women or men would further its goal to be competitive in sports globally. "Besides China, no other nation gives equal financial support and media attention to women's sports. That's why China can challenge the U.S. in medals -- it treats men and women equally," says Ms. Brownell. China's quest for gold intensified following the 2000 Games, when Chinese sports authorities unveiled Project 119, aimed at boosting its medal haul.

When a 2004 foot injury sidelined volleyball player Zhao Ruirui -- nicknamed "the female Yao Ming" for her lanky physique -- the Chinese sports system covered her surgery bills and paid her salary as she sat on the sidelines for four years.

Success for the women comes even as they are outnumbered in the general population. Due to China's one-child population policy and a general preference for male heirs, population planners estimate there will be 30 million more men than women of marriageable age in China by 2020.

The sports system has been one of the few career outlets for a girl with talent. Until recently, women who needed to find work were mostly limited to factory assembly lines. Some 90% of assembly-line workers in China are female, according to Hong Kong University of Science and Technology professor Pun Ngai.

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Swimmer Zhou Yafei

Training can go beyond rigorous. Swimmer Zhou Yafei blogs about her Olympic regimen: bleary-eyed pool plunges and days that start at 5 a.m. and end at 10 p.m. "I don't know whether this training is scientific or not," she recently wrote. "It is not good for our health."

The gender gap could change as sports grow more commercialized in China. More attention and money are being diverted towards men's professional sports, which attract more viewers. Although the Chinese women's soccer team has outperformed the men's team internationally, the men still pull in more money and sponsors, estimates Marcus John, China head of talent agency IMG Worldwide.

In April, China's women's basketball team beat the U.S. team in an unexpected 84-81 victory in the Good Luck Beijing International Tournament. It was the first time China had beaten the U.S. in an international basketball tournament. To crowds screaming "Go, China!" Miao Lijie, a 5-foot-11 point guard who has played with the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs, scored 26 points, upstaging established stars like Lisa Leslie. During the breaks, fans could catch a relatively new sight: prancing women in skimpy silver outfits, China's first generation of pro cheerleaders.

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