The mellow colors of the gymnasium belie the energy of the gymnasts as they run into a power-packed flip on the sky-blue carpet, fly above the orange vaulting horses, or twist from one pale-blue horizontal bar to another. It's all in a day's work for a striving gymnast, but this is no ordinary gym. The apparatus here is scaled-down - smaller horses, wider balance beams - to compensate for the tiny athletes, aged 4 to 9.

For this is the gymnasium of the Children's Sports School in Xuhui District, the cradle of China's future Olympic gymnasts. Each year, about 150 students are selected, based on physical appearance, from kindergartens in the district. And surprisingly, it helps to be disobedient: "We look for short, slim kids with straight arms, legs and tiny joints. Then we ask the teachers if they are nimble and naughty. Naughty kids are often gifted athletes, since they have extra energy to release," said 53-year-old coach Chen Gexi, a retired gymnast.

About a third of the children selected attend a one-and-a-half-hour preliminary training session to ascertain whether they enjoy the sport and also whether it's acceptable to the parents. Chen calls this their process of "natural selection." He reports that 90 percent of the children who eventually enroll are not Shanghainese. "Shanghai parents want their kids to learn English, painting, or piano - the gentle arts. They don't want their kids to endure any hardships," Chen says.

The 50 trainees spend their summer vacation working. Their day begins at 9:30 a.m., two and a half hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon, and a deserved nap on the sky-blue tumbling mat in between.

Each morning, coach Lu Di begins the day with what looks like torture of his students. It's something the 24-year-old coach, recently retired from the national team, suffered himself, and is considered the deepest pain suffered in gymnastics. Lu stretches the children's legs for 30 seconds, during which time almost all the kids cry aloud from the pain. "I did too, as a child," recalls Lu.

Yet their hard work is no guarantee of future success - it's a long, hard climb to the dream of a gold medal. Only 10 percent of these little gymnasts will make it to the Shanghai Sports Institute, and just the top students from there will join the Shanghai Sports Working Team, which participates in national competitions, and may even send members to the national team and the Olympics Games. During the past half century, only three international competition gold medalists were from Shanghai.

Looking at the gymnasium filled with children, clad only in sweatpants, each chasing their own dreams, Chen points out two boys who are the most promising - 7-year-old, Qiu Jinghuan and 9-year-old, He Youxiao.

He, wearing purple sweatpants, looks delicate and a bit shy, raising doubts that this was the same kid who won two gold medals in last year's Shanghai Sports Meeting for Kids. "The sport is interesting, and I'd like to go on training to be a professional. It is very hard sometimes. But mom said if I don't endure hardships now, how can I have a bright future? I listen to my mom," said He, his bright eyes twinkling.

Ye Qiankun, a handsome 9-year-old, has a different story. Ye immediately catches your eye in a group, he is strong, clearly a hard worker and a natural leader. As his coach rested, Ye led the group in vaulting and jumping like frogs. Yet his body is betraying his early promise. "Ye is training well but his bones are growing too big for gymnastics," said Lu.

Ye recalls his time in the gymnasium with a hint of nostalgia, knowing that it will not last long. "I've cried only twice here. Once when I first arrived. My dad left me alone in this strange hall, and I suddenly missed him, and cried," said Ye, recalling his 5-year-old self. "The second time was when the bar rubbed off a large piece of skin off my palm. It was so painful that I could not help crying."

More quietly, the boy added, "I like it here and love being with so many friends. I'd like to become a world champion, but I've received notice that I will enter acrobatics next month. They told me that I could go abroad to perform in eight years."

"After training and growth, if someone turns out to be unsuited to gymnastics - in Ye's case, he's simply growing too big - we will suggest a transfer to another sport, something where the gymnastics training will benefit him, like diving or acrobatics," said Lu, pointing out that Fu Mingxia, Olympic diving champion, started out as a gymnast.

"There are other uncertainties that determine the fate of a gymnast: whether the coach likes your style and the injuries you sustain," added Lu, whose early retirement from the national team two years ago was due to a serious shoulder injury.

For some parents, though, the gymnastics training has already brought rewards. As 5-year-old Zhu Xiaoling makes a perfect arc while swinging under a parallel bar, it's impossible to tell that she had a lymph tumor for which she underwent surgery at the tender age of 2.

"After the surgery, she became very weak and often caught cold from other kids in kindergarten. But after practicing here for a year, although her hands are callused, she is seldom ill," said Xi, the girl's mother. "Sometimes the hardships of training make her cry, but when she turns a perfect somersault to the envy of her friends, all those hardships vanish."

Chen Chengwei was a comparatively lazy 6-year-old boy before joining the program. Then he wouldn't even walk the eight minutes to the bus stop.

"After a year's training, my son has become a diligent boy," beamed his proud father, as his sweating son ran to him after completing a five-minute headstand. "Moreover, his appetite has improved tremendously - he now eats a full bowl of steamed rice, whereas before he had to be coaxed to finish just half a bowl."

So even the little ones who don't make it will find that gymnastics has enriched their lives, said coach Chen.

"It improves the body quality, body shape, and develops the kids' ability to conquer hardships," said Chen, whose own daughter was a gymnast, adding, he was most proud of her beautiful posture.

(Eastday.com 08/13/2001)