Young Chinese jump rope medalists win applaud at world championships

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“Storm-like jumping speed,” that’s the comment Chinese netizens give to the talented youngsters who won the championship of 23 projects in last month’s World Jump Rope Federation in America’s Orlando.

In a recent video released by the Pear Video, the live footage of the games and the sweat-drenched training routine of the little players who were selected from a primary school in southern China’s Guangzhou City were documented.

Students compete in the World Jump Rope Federation 2018. /Screenshot from the Pear Video

According to Coach Li Xiaoyu who led the team, the kids flew 18 hours all the way from China to the US and overcame the jet lag to attend the competitions less than 24 hours after their landing.

“The indoor temperature was set lower than usual training that our students have to keep warming up to keep in the condition which consumed too much energy. Even so, they won dozens of medals,” Li said proudly.

“Participants are not limited to age and gender in ‘30 second single rope under relay [3 jumpers]’ event, that is to say, there are also middle school and college students who compete with the kids. Performing well, boys don’t let me down,” the coach added.

Students do daily training in the elementary school's gym. /Screenshot from the Pear Video

The youngsters' success may seem easy, but the journey is not. Having to balance training and academics, they have to arrive at school two hours early in the morning and go back home late.

They are also asked to do push-ups and sit-ups after homework. However, the little players never failed the exams because if they did, they would not be able to train, which is unreceptive for these rope jumping enthusiasts.

Weibo users applaud for the players. /Screenshot from the Weibo

“The sport teaches them important life lessons, as well as being a source of discipline and motivation,” said user @Yezi on China’s Twitter-like platform Weibo.

“They set a good example for grown-ups. Strong youth entails a strong country,” another user @Sunyoudao commented.

Huang Huihui,11, who skipped an astounding 184 times in 30 seconds, won five gold medals and four silver medals for the Chinese team. /Photo via Sohu.com

The contest indeed helps train their minds under extreme mental pressure. “I have learned how to be focused and relax in the game,” medalist Yang Hao told the Pear Video.

Beneficial to people’s health and a good exercise to cultivate endurance, jump rope is a mandatory sport in China’s physical education lessons. It's a childhood memory for most Chinese grown-ups, and the sport should be insisted on for a lifetime.