Inside China sports school where children as young as 4, train for 10 hours to qualify for Olympics

The Chen Jinglun Sports school in Hangzhou, has a proven track record of producing gold medalists.

One of their most famous graduates is swimmer Ye Shiwen who won double gold at London 2012.
 Ye Shiwen.

Above the entrance of the school is a huge sign reading: "Today sport student, tomorrow Olympic star." The pupils here are conscious of the purpose of their training.

Children as young as four receive up to 10 hours a day intensive coaching in their ‘chosen’ field and the trainings have a military-like intensity.

The  young girls and boys being stretched to their limits.

Forced to hang from bars, do pull ups or be manipulated into the splits position, it didn't look like many of them were having fun, reports ITV News.

There are around 3,000 sports schools in China, training almost half a million children.

Past Olympic winners from this city were given £300,000 homes by a local company.

The Headmaster of Chen Jinglun disagrees that their coaching methods are cruel and archaic:

"No hard work, no gain.
It's different from other jobs, competitive sports require sweat and blood to become outstanding.
To get in the Olympics you must be quicker, more superior and more competitive than others.
You must go through the hardship for the best result.
But our training is not the same as the military."