The People's Republic of China is well-known as being one of the most oppressive countries in the world in regards to personal liberty and government control, despite supposedly being a socialist state. Although not nearly as oppressive as the Soviet Union was, it's still pretty bad over there if you are not a skilled individual. The vast majority of Chinese Olympic athletes were discovered at age 4 or 5, scouted for any remote athletic ability. They are then taken from their homes and only see their families around 1 month out of the year, spending the majority of their time in government run training facilities practicing 4-5 hours everyday, leaving little time for formal schooling.
When a Chinese Olympian wins a gold medal, they receive a congratulatory letter from the Chinese government, but they do not receive any such congratulation for winning silver or bronze, being totally ignored.
Ever since the doping scandals of the 90s, China has fired back with a scarily impressive number of gold medals and overall medals. Most recently, a 16 year old female Chinese swimmer shattered the world record in her event, including a split that has been described as "impossible," sparking allegations of doping.
Whatever the case, it's become clear that the totalitarian method of raising children to be athletes tends to work and it's only a matter of time until China or some other totalitarian country attempts eugenics to produce better athletes.
