"These husbands are heroes as well. They've put in a lot of effort without much recognition," said tennis chief Sun Jinfang. "Now we do not interfere with the players' private lives. We'll even help them find a boyfriend if necessary."

"I think romance is a kind of motivation for them. We are playing a foreign sport, so maybe we need to follow the example of European and American players. It's totally normal for top players to come to a tournament with their families."

Badminton head coach Li Yongbo echoed Sun's point of view.

"These husbands are making a tremendous contribution to Chinese sports," he said. "They deserve gold medals as well."