Here’s a look back at last’s month National Games, held in China every four years. I’ve written before about the ludicrous medal system that meant Heilongjiang province had amassed 43 medals before the Games even kicked off and how Sun Yang effectively racked up 11 medals. But the reason for all this medal mania is largely down to local sports officials who assume (usually correctly) that their promotion prospects depend on a nice haul of metal from their athletes, sort of like a sporting parallel to how local governments seek inflated GDP numbers. This leads to all sorts of tricks, including the trading of athletes between provinces. Here’s an extract:

Mengke Bateer is one of Inner Mongolia’s most famous sporting sons – sporting or otherwise. But the first Chinese basketball player to win an NBA Championship is the ultimate homer, representing represented host province Shandong Province in 2009 as well as host provinceand Liaoning Province in 2013. How do Inner Mongolians feel when they see him representing another province instead of their own? What do those in Shandong or Liaoning think when they know that they have sporting mercenaries instead of locals representing them?

Full article is here.