An immense amount of pressure was placed on Chinese athletes by the communist regime. Early in the piece Brownell quotes a narration posted under a picture depicting the May 19 China-Hong soccer tournament that ended in a riot, that states “A nation which in its heart can no longer afford to lose” (p.78). Sports in communist China came to represent the state to the rest of the world, government officials came to view sports as a way of showing their international audience that China was no longer the weak society it used to be. How did this governement pressure fall to the actual athletes.  Brownell speaks of her participation in the 1986 National College Games, as a member of the Beijing City collegiate team. She quotes a couch as saying:

“Why do you always have to shout slogans?  Of course we all want to ‘win glory for Beijing.’  But do you think Beijing really cares whether you win points for it or not?  Most of Beijing doesn’t even know who you are.  If you do badly, is Beijing going to consol you?  No, but you have to live with it.  So we’re all really performing for ourselves” (p. 164).

Pressure on the athlete to perform was tremendous.  Beyond the pressure placed on them by the government to uphold “spiritual civilization” the athletes had to perform well in order to remain valuable to the sports world.  Being an athlete extended certain priviledges, like higher social standing, bonuses that equated to a higher standard of living, and increased access to a college education. Athletes also have greater access to the outside world, through competitions and by extension western goods. There was also pressure to overcome the stereotypes associated with athletes.  Due to the excessive training needed to succeed in the sports world, education came second to training; athletes were thus associated with having “low culture” (being undereducated). Athletes that are successful help to counter this prejudice. Brownell quotes a fellow athlete as saying, “but these years it is better than before, becuase they have seen that athletes do a lot for society.  And it is true that athletes make a great contibution to society” (p. 174).  Athletes were considerable figures in communist society wrapped in the pressures of upholding the Socialist ideal, striving to live, and striving to prove their worth in the communist society.  Athletes really could not loose for fear of letting themselves, their countrymen, and their nation down.