China aiming to repeat Olympic medal success in London

Barely able to see over the net, 10-year-old Lu Huanzhang focuses on the oncoming ping pong ball, swinging his right arm down and back and smashing a winner. He jumps and clenches a fist in triumph.

Lu is one of many young children training at Beijing’s Shichahai Sports School, a boarding school in the centre of the capital with a reputation for churning out Olympic champions.

“I dream of becoming an Olympic athlete,” Lu said during a break in the action.

“I think I will have to overcome a lot of hard training, I will have to listen to my coach and do what he tells me. If I have time I must repeat my hitting skills and improve my technique.”

A year after topping the gold medal table at the 2008 Beijing Games, the nation’s sporting juggernaut is in full gear as athletes prepare to bring more Olympic glory to China in London 2012 and beyond.

At the Beijing Games, China became only the third country to top the gold medal table at a post-World War II Olympic Games, joining sporting powerhouse the United States and the former Soviet Union.

In Beijing, China finished with 51 gold medals, 21 silver and 28 bronze to the United States’ 36-38-36, although they ended behind their arch-rivals 110-100 on the overall medal tally.

As the nation’s economy powers ahead, its sporting machine is showing few signs of slowing down.

“In every discipline we are actively developing talent in preparation for the London Olympics,” Shichahai School principal Li Guicheng told AFP.

“In London it is not certain that China will be the number one but we will make an effort to strive for this.”

The school one of several hundred elite sports academies in China geared towards developing championship-level athletes is a beehive of activity with gymnasiums of youngsters training in their specialities.

Spry eight-year-olds attack the high bars or do multiple somersaults in the gymnastics hall, while the Beijing badminton team gears up for this year’s All China National Games, the nation’s own mini-Olympics. Besides four-time table tennis gold medalist Zhang Yining and gold medal gymnasts Teng Haibin and Ma Yanhong, the school has also produced Olympic champions in taekwondo and volleyball.

Beijing-born film star Jet Li was a graduate of the school’s martial arts academy, while a score of world champions in various disciplines have trained here.

In the past such schools were largely seen as the backbone of China’s state-sponsored sports industry, but according to Li this is changing as China’s economy grows and as more professional sports leagues develop.

“The Olympics have pushed things forward in many areas, but especially in the sports economy,” Li said.

“From the Olympics, people are seeing that athletes can bring a lot of glory and money to themselves and their families. This has brought along a lot of others and encouraged them to participate in sports.”

BEIJING, Monday, AFP