China’s first Winter Olympics champion is helping retired athletes rediscover purpose
In her professional career, Yang Yang took two gold medals, two silvers and one bronze medal at Winter Olympic Games. The 1998 and 2006 short-track speedskating champion, is now turning her winning instinct to help other retired athletes find a new path in life beyond the track.
The 39-year-old is a member of the International Olympic Committee, the first Chinese athlete ever to join, and is using her position to assist former Olympians in finding new career paths.
Public outcry ensued after an expose showed some of China’s former champions were enduring serious hardships. Zou Chunlan, an erstwhile weightlifting champion, was a public bath scrubber for many years after her retirement in 1993, for example. Tales of medallists parting with their trophies are also common.
Nevertheless, Yang’s endeavours focus on helping China’s sporting stars look to future achievement, rather cultivating a feeling of entitlement from past accomplishments.
Yang established a foundation with FESCO Adecco, a joint-venture between Swiss HR firm Adecco and China’s state-owned Foreign Enterprise Human Resource Service Co, that trains athletes in other skills, edits CVs, coaches candidates for interviews and offers career counselling.
Zheng Shulan, a former champion boxer, now works as a sales consultant at a Decathlon store and is praised by customers for her insight and guidance on selecting products.
“Don’t be afraid”, Yang advised atheletes in a recent interview with China Daily, “you are not starting from scratch.”