The beatings allegedly given to young Chinese gymnasts are "not so different" to the corporal punishment once used in British public schools, the head of the Olympic movement has said.
Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), made the comments to Britain's Sunday Telegraph following claims by former rower Matthew Pinsent about physical abuse at Chinese training camps.
"While it is not for us to condone what might not be acceptable, you also have to look at the cultural factor," Rogge said. "I don't need to remind you of the fact that physical punishment was still in use in English public schools until, I believe, the 1970s."
Pinsent's claims of ill-treatment of children by coaches had to be looked at in a social and cultural context Rogge said.
"Let's not exaggerate. There is no torture. I would say that the things that have been reported by Matthew are not so different to what happened in [English] schools 30 years ago," he added.
"They do not put electrical wires on their bodies. I don't agree with any physical abuse, but let's not blow up this issue. This is not the torture of young children, even if we say excesses have to be stopped," Rogge said.
Pinsent's concerns were aired on BBC television and radio last month after he visited a Beijing gymnasium to watch young athletes training for the 2008 Olympics.
The four-time Olympic gold medalist, a former IOC member, described seeing children being pushed through the pain barrier and said one young boy had clearly been beaten by his coach.
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