China establishes first professional Athletics Club

The Liaoning National Olympics Athletics Club is jointly built by the Liaoning Athletics Sports Administrative Centre and Shenzhen Guanghua Investment & Development Ltd.

“The National Olympics Athletics Club aims to improve the level of Chinese athletics sports and promote its professionalism. Its establishment marks the beginning of the marketing and industrialization of Liaoning athletics,” Song Kai, director of the Liaoning Sport Bureau, said at a press conference.

Song also added that the income of Liaoning athletes in the field of track and field will see substantial increases as private capital enters the management and operations of the athletics club.

Liaoning athletics athlete, Wang Liping, gold medalist at the 20-kilometer race walking event of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, sent her best wishes to the newly-founded club. “Under the standard and effective professional management and dynamic operation system, the National Olympic Athletics Club will have even better athletes and make contributions to the athletics sports in Liaoning and throughout China. The club will become one of the leading athletics clubs in the world,” said Wang.

Decathlon athlete Qi Haifeng noted that every Liaoning athletics athlete wished to have a professional athletics club in Liaoning, which in the end, can help promote the development of Liaoning athletics sports.

Source: People.com, QQ

Proofread by William Logsdon