BEIJING—With plenty of cash and an infusion of foreign coaches, China’s old communist-inspired sporting machine has undergone a major upgrade in recent years that has driven it to its historic Olympic success.

Many controversial methods remain—children spend years away from their parents in training camps, discipline breaches are not tolerated and athletes who do not achieve glory for the motherland are often ejected and forgotten.

However, China’s sports chiefs have shown a willingness in the long buildup to the 2008 Olympics to embrace more modern ideas, which has been one key factor in the nation already winning more gold in Beijing than any other Games.

“I have worked a lot to get the women to have fun,” said Frenchman Christian Bauer, who has been in charge of China’s saber fencing team since 2006. “For them, fencing was a kind of a job. It was not a passion.”

With Bauer’s help, China achieved only its second Olympic fencing gold when Zhong Man won the men’s individual sabre event.

Bauer received warm plaudits for helping in the success but, giving an insight into the steely determination behind China’s sporting rise, he said silver for the women’s saber team was seen as a failure.

Most precious commodity

“When I saw the people responsible at the federation after we won silver, they didn’t even congratulate me. They care only about gold,” he said.

Now that it can afford to pay decent salaries, China has attracted a legion of foreign coaches like Bauer in recent years.

Lithuanian Jonas Kazlauskas has been entrusted to look after perhaps China’s most precious sporting commodity, Yao Ming, and the rest of the national men’s basketball team, which has made the quarterfinals in Beijing.

Changing mentality

Meanwhile, Australian Tom Maher is in charge of the women’s team, after guiding his native country to silver at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Maher said one of his top priorities was to change the mentality among Chinese sporting chiefs that training harder was better.

“The logic here is: If two hours training is good, four must be better. If you can do eight hours, then 12 is better still,” said Maher, who was appointed in 2005.

“Going on 10,000m training runs doesn’t make you a better basketball player.”

A record 38 foreign coaches are involved with Chinese teams or athletes in Beijing, China’s Olympic team deputy head Cui Dalin said, describing them as “significant elements” in the nation’s success.

As well as bringing foreign coaches in, China has shown a newfound willingness to send its athletes abroad.

After a three-month stint in Australia under the guidance of well-respected coach Denis Cotterell, Zhang Lin stormed to the 400m freestyle silver medal on Sunday for the best Olympic swim by a Chinese male in 12 years.