No golden ticket: athletics star earned her spot at China’s top university

Every year on 7 June, around 13 million Chinese high school seniors sit down for a test that will determine their future.

To be admitted into China’s number one post-secondary school, Tsinghua University, students need to score a minimum of 676 out of 750 on the gaokao, the national university entrance exam.

Xia waves to the crowd after winning bronze in the women’s team half-marathon“Actually, I never thought that I could get into Tsinghua University before going to Beijing because it’s the top university in China, and it’s very difficult to get into,” said Xia Yuyu, the Chengdu FISU World University Games women’s 10,000m gold medallist, silver medallist in the women’s 5,000m, and third place finisher in the women’s half-marathon team event.

When Xia was 14, she was scouted and brought to Beijing to train and attend a Tsinghua-affiliated high school. While moving from her small town in Guizhou — one of China’s less-developed provinces — opened a doorway for Xia, it was hardly a golden ticket into Tsinghua.

“They are the top school in China, so they are very strict in academics. If a student is talented in sports, they still need to take the test, and only if they qualify can they attend,” said Yan Yuetong, member of the Chinese delegation and of the FISU committee for the Development of University Sport.

“It’s very important to balance sports with studies.”

Since Xia attended a high school with ties to the university, she did not have to take the sport-specific entrance exam that most athletes in the country take. She did, however, need to score a nearly perfect mark on her academic assessment.

“The requirements for academic knowledge during the Tsinghua entrance examination are quite high, so I felt very stressed in high school,” she said.

While exceptional athletic talent can shave off a few points from the cutoff mark, being an athlete doesn’t relieve too much of the exam pressure like it does in other parts of the world.

“The academic work in high school is very heavy,” said Xia. “We would have classes in the morning and also in the afternoon, so we could only squeeze in two hours to train. In the evening would be more studying.”

Participating in high-level sports in high school meant tighter schedules and more sacrifices for the young runner. She had to give up playing football because she didn’t have the time, and she couldn’t run the risk of getting injured.

At Tsinghua University, Xia studies sports management. She hopes her knowledge of running and sports can lead her to a career in the sports industry where she can help others find the same passion she has.

“Sports have the value of educating people,” she said. “For example, you need to abide by rules and unite in competitions, which are essential qualities in our daily lives.”

The 25-year-old sees the value that sports have given her. Even though balancing running with rigorous studying has not been easy, it has made her better.

“Without sports, I wouldn’t have had the chance to go to Beijing and get into such a top university,” she said. “If it weren’t for practicing sports, I wouldn’t be so resilient today.”

Written by Miriam Celebiler, FISU Young Reporter