Chinese fans have grown accustomed to seeing their weightlifters smash world records and win gold medals.

But at these Olympic Games, they have seen something they might never have dreamed of: victorious Chinese weightlifters being interviewed in English.

Every member of China's national weightlifting team now has some post-secondary education, like men's 56kg gold winner Long Qingquan. [China Daily]

Gone are the days when Chinese lifters reached the pinnacle of their sport and then slid into a miserable retirement.

Every member of the national team now has some post-secondary education, and several have graduate degrees.

"We want to be successful as professional athletes and we also want to live a good life after retirement. Both things are important for us," said Zhang Xiangxiang, who won a gold medal in the men's 62kg class on Tuesday.

Some, like women's 58 gold medalist Chen Yanqing, have graduate degrees. [Agencies]

"I know there have been critics saying that Chinese weightlifters are uneducated and unable to adjust to normal life after retirement, but that is a thing of the past," Zhang said

"Now we are well-educated, and more international. We know what we are going to do after leaving the sport. We're definitely well prepared for life after weightlifting ."

It wasn't always so. As recently as ten years ago, weightlifters typically had no prospects after retirement.

Zou Chunlan, a former women's national champion, left the sport ten years ago with little education and was forced to raise livestock, transport sand, and work in a public bathhouse to support herself.

Her unhappy life was widely reported by local media last year and she received enough money in donations to open a laundry in Beijing.

The lesson was not lost on other Chinese athletes, however, particularly the weightlifters, who go through years of punishing workouts and often retire with crippling injuries.

Now, more than half the athletes on the national team have bachelor's degrees, and the rest are taking university courses, according to Chinese weightlifting chief Ma Wenguang.

Two lifters even have master's degrees - Zhang is a graduate student at the Beijing University of Physical Education, majoring in English literature, while women's 58kg champion Chen Yanqing has a degree in psychology from Jiangsu University.

"Having a good education is very important for our athletes," said Cui Dalin, China's deputy chef de mission. "It makes them more balanced people and helps them lead a better life after quitting the sport."

In 2003, China set up a nationwide program to provide scholarships, college stipends and insurance for athletes, Cui said.

Higher education is fast becoming the norm for China's elite athletes. World champion table tennis player Deng Yaping is a graduate of Tsinghua University and holds a doctorate in economics from Cambridge University in England.

Hurdler Liu Xiang is working on a doctorate in sports management at East China Normal University. Women's volleyball spiker Zhao Ruirui, tennis star Li Na, and diver Guo Jingjing are among the high-profile athletes taking postgraduate courses in their spare time.