CHINA: OLYMPIC GAMES: Beijing press conference as Chinese athletes prepare to head for the Turin Winter Olympics

Record ID: 331916

  • Title: CHINA: OLYMPIC GAMES: Beijing press conference as Chinese athletes prepare to head for the Turin Winter Olympics
  • Date: 19th January 2006
  • Summary: CLOSE UP: OF SHEN XUE AND ZHAO HONGBO TALKING
  • Embargoed: 3rd February 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAA453ZZWJ6JO6BCTCZ2S8HP5F3
  • Story Text: China, led by Olympic speed skating champion Yang Yang, is sending its largest ever Winter Games delegation to Turin aiming to improve on the country's breakthrough two golds at the Salt Lake City Olympics.
    Short-track veteran Yang became a national hero after winning double gold in 2002 and despite a short retirement has not lost her form, having led China's medal sweep in the 500 metres at the 2005 world championships.
    But China, which entered its first Winter Olympics in 1980, will be counting on others among the 76 athletes it is sending to Turin for the February 10 to 26 Games to boost its medal count.
    Speaking at a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday (January 18), the Deputy Director of the State Administration of Sports, Duan Shijie, said the situation in Turin was challenging.
    "Though we have made progress in some areas, after an in-depth analysis of various issues in the Winter Olympics, we face a challenging situation. Our basic overall strength has increased but we have just a few top notch athletes," said Duan.
    Duan also said anti-doping efforts were being stepped up following a raft of doping scandals in Chinese sport.
    "In order to ensure that we can fulfil our tasks and no single athlete is involved in doping scandals, we have, specifically for the Winter Olympics, held training courses to give athletes instructions on the doping issue. We have told them our requirements and tried to raise their anti-doping awareness by education," said Duan.
    All eyes in China will be on pairs figure skaters Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, world champions in 2002 and 2003 and bronze medallists at the 2002 Winter Olympics. An achilles' tendon injury suffered by Zhao forced them to withdraw from the 2005 world championships. Zhao returned to training a few weeks ago and is regaining his form. Even if he is still wary of jumps, the pair represent China's best shot at upsetting Russia's skaters.
    "(My foot) will not cause much trouble. I will try jumping to see if they are OK. If I don't feel uncomfortable, I will jump more when skating. If I feel a little uncomfortable, I will adopt some protection methods," said Zhao.
    In the women's freestyle aerial skiing event, China should be the team to beat with Li Nina leaping to top spot in this year's World Cup standings and team mates Guo Xinxin and veteran Xu Nannan in the top 10.
    The country even has an outside shot in the biathlon. The team has been training in Finland since 2003 and Chinese women took two silver medals at the 2005 world championships.
    Short track speed skating is still the sport for China's main medal hopes.
    Youngster Wang Meng, who will be making her Olympic debut, has recently been stronger in the 500 metres but there will be heavy pressure on Yang to repeat her golden performance of 2004.
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