Chinese Guru Coach Expects Golds at 2004 Olympics

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, November 28, 2001

Chinese Guru Coach Expects Golds at 2004 Olympics

Chinese famed athletics coach Ma Junren expects winning gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Chinese famed athletics coach Ma Junren expects winning gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Ma, having a rest with his athletes in the southern Chinese scenic city Guilin following China's Ninth National Games, said that 10 of his proteges were strong contenders for gold medals in the 2004 Olympics.

"In the 5,000-meter event at the national games, Dong Yanmei clocked 14:51:58, better than the world championship's winning result and 0.3 second faster than that of Wang Junxia at the 1996 Olympics."

"Liaoning provincial team has some 10 promising athletes expected to win at next Olympics," said Ma. "I believe youngsters like Gong Ke and Qi Haifeng will make impressive performance then."

As the head coach of Liaoning athletics team, Ma led his athletes to take all the golds in women's middle- and long-distance running, and the events of women's marathon, 20km walk and men's 10,000m to grab nine out of 47 athletics golds on offer.

Gong Ke won the men's 10,000m race in 28:59.21. Not long ago, he shone in his marathon debut by winning Beijing International Marathon on October 14 while Qi Haifeng smashed the national record in men's decathlon with 8,021 points.

Although Ma's Army is still playing a dominant role in Chinese athletics, to win the Olympic golds seems not easy.

"I would have retired if not for the great expectation of all the Chinese on Ma's Army," Ma said. "It is really difficult to win in the Olympics."

"Scientific training methods is important. What's more, we must train the athletes according to their caliber and depth," Ma said.

Ma is not alone in fighting for a golden goal in the Olympics as China is determined to confront an uphill battle and try to reap medals in track and field. Walk and marathon, both men and women, and women's middle- and long-distance running now top the Chinese sports authorities' priority list.

Feature: Top Question for Games: How Golden Are Ma's Army's Golds?