TELEVISION viewers in China are to be invited to compete for a place in the country’s national Olympic rowing team and a chance to win a gold medal in Beijing in 2008, writes Tom Pattinson.

More than 10m armchair sportsmen and women are expected to enter the year-long contest which will be shown on the most ambitious reality TV show so far.

The programme, to be broadcast on CCTV, the state-run television station, in the autumn, will follow contestants through a series of physical and psychological tests as they compete to become coxes for the country’s male and female rowing teams.

“About 300m people will watch the show and 10m contestants will take part,” said Liu Aijie, deputy director of the Chinese Water Sports Administration.

The entry criteria are being kept deliberately broad to retain the reality TV feel while promoting China’s “sports for all” policy.

“There will be no height restrictions but they have to weigh under 100lb and should be over 16 and under 50 and in good health to enter,” said Nathan Jones, international relations manager of the programme. “Everyone from the lowest peasant to old grannies can apply and can potentially be in the running for a gold medal.”

The twice-weekly programme will have a panel of judges from the China Water Sports Administration as well as celebrities. At the end of each show two candidates will be voted off by text message until only 12 finalists remain from the original 350 contestants. These hopefuls will then begin training with the Olympic rowing team from the beginning of 2007 until all but two are eliminated by viewers and the squad.

Although there will be a large cross section of society entering the competition, the winner is unlikely to be a surprise.

“Like any reality TV show the results can be manipulated,” said one insider. “You’re certainly not going to see some 50-year-old granny get to the final. The winner will be young, fit and intelligent and ultimately selected by the Olympic coach. God forbid they would choose someone who would cause them to lose the Olympics. They would be shot.”

James Cracknell, the British rowing champion and double Olympic gold medallist, said China’s unconventional method of selecting its cox could help the British team. “It would be great for us if they chose the worst contestant,” he said. “Although you’ve got a lot more chance of selecting a successful cox than a successful rower, it’s risky.”

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