CHINA: Olympics abuse claims surface as 8-year-old Chinese girl runs more than 3,500 kilometres across China

Eight-year-old Zhang Huimin completes a 3,560 kilometre run across China amidst accusations of child abuse against her father. An eight-year-old Chinese girl has arrived in Beijing after state media said she ran 3,560 km (2,212 miles) to celebrate the 2008 Olympics, a feat which brought her father accusations of child abuse. Zhang Huimin arrived at the outskirts of Beijing on Sunday (August 26) and officially ended her journey when she reached Tiananmen Square in the early hours of Tuesday morning (August 28). She started her extraordinary odyssey on July 3 from Sanya, at the southern tip of the island province of Hainan, with her father following her all the way on a motorised bicycle, the Beijing News said. Zhang got up at 2.30 a.m. every day to train for the run, Xinhua news agency said, and would have had to have run about 65 km a day for 55 days -- the equivalent of about one and a half marathons a day. Asked what she thought of her achievement upon arrival in Tiananmen Square, a fresh-looking Huimin said: "I've liked running since I was very young. Running makes me happy." Domestic media and some experts have accused father Zhang Jianmin, a businessman, of abuse, saying such a long run would damage the girl's body and affect her growth. News of her gruelling regiment and long hours on the road would have caused her to endure physical strain that could be severely detrimental to her body, some experts said. But in response to the allegations, Zhang said his daughter was happy running and that she never complained of fatigue. "I don't worry about her health. She is always healthy around me and never said her legs hurt or that she was tired after running 30 kilometers. She is always happy running. I have no reason to prevent her from running. Just like today, she is happy to run and I can't stop her. Everything will happen naturally but she must stick to it if she wants to run," he said. Zhang and his wife separated mainly because she opposed his way of training their daughter, according to one newspaper. But Zhang told reporters on Tuesday that he would not pressure his daughter to pursue running if it went against her wishes. "As for her future, it will depend on her hobbies. If she is interested in running then we will keep working on it," he said. He quickly added, however, that he was already thinking about Olympic participation for his daughter, if she so wished. "She'll be eighteen years old in ten years time and it will be possible to take part in the Olympics. If she loses interest in running and wants to do something else then it will naturally depend on her. There are so many things that parents can't control. Whatever she is interested in, I'll do my utmost to support her," he said. In June, Indian police stopped a five-year-old boy, who became a celebrity after a seven-hour run that sparked charges of abuse, from participating in a 500-km (300 mile) walking event.

ITN Source | August 29, 2007

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