Japanese and Chinese MAG had a joint camp

Translation from Chinese by Daniel Rothwell

After the Japanese men’s national gymnastics team came to the Chinese National Gymnastics Training Center in Beijing for a joint training camp with the Chinese National Team last month, the Chinese men flew to Japan last week for another joint training session in Japan. The camp began on February 11th and lasted six days.

Xiao Ruoteng, Zou Jingyuan, Lin Chaopan, Deng Shudi, Liu Rongbing, Lan Xingyu, Ma Yue, Yin Dexing, and Wang Junwen were among those on the Chinese National Team who made the trip to the Japanese National Gymnastics Training Facility.

Wang Hongwei, the head of the Men’s National Team, stated that the trip gave the team a specified goal in preparation for the Olympics next year:

“Regarding food, the Japanese have a healthier diet. Their food is very light and they cook with less oil, which is more suitable for athletes. Regarding training, the Japanese athletes are very independent as they don’t always need constant supervision from coaches. This is very similar to the coach-athlete interaction during competitions. Regarding alternates, the Japanese team has a large number of alternates that can compete at a high level. It’s worth learning for the future of our younger coaches and athletes.”

Three-time World champion Zou Jingyuan expressed his satisfaction with the training camp:

“The Japanese train very actively, they already have training drills and are consistently hitting their routines. We need to pick it up. It may be because they didn’t perform too well at World Championships last year, and their mistakes motivated them to train harder. They have relentless work ethic and train with a goal in mind. Everything they do in training has a purpose. They don’t aimlessly train. These are the qualities we need to succeed.”

Xiao Ruoteng, current two-time World Champion, stated the environment was very friendly since all the athletes were familiar with each other:

“I can tell the Japanese are very advanced on apparatus like floor, they also have some great training drills. However, in terms of the gymnastics venues and accommodations, the Chinese team is better. We aren’t talking too much with each other, mostly because we want to observe each other. The Japanese are all in good shape, which is about what we expected. Uchimura still looks like he’s affected by his injury, but he’s mostly recovered.”

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