Chinese child gymnasts being ‘abused’

CHINA’S treatment of young gymnasts being trained for the 2008 Olympics has been put under the spotlight after Matthew Pinsent was left “shocked” and “disturbed” by what he viewed as child abuse on a visit to a gym in Beijing.

In a report for the BBC on China’s preparations, the four-time rowing gold medallist described children in pain while performing gymnastics and claimed a boy had been beaten by his coach leaving red marks on his back.

As a former member of the IOC and current member of the British Olympic Association the words of Pinsent will carry weight in the international sporting community.