China Plays down Gold Medal Prospect in 2002 Winter Olympics

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 26, 2001

China Plays down Gold Medal Prospect in 2002 Winter Olympics

Seventeen years after breaking the gold medal drought at the Summer Olympic Games, China is still pursuing its first title at the Winter Games.

Seventeen years after breaking the gold medal drought at the Summer Olympic Games, China is still pursuing its first title at the Winter Games.

But Chinese winter sports officials have played down the prospect that China could have a dream come true in the 2002 Games, which will open early in February in Salt Lake City of the United States.

"We are still not on the same par with the winter sports powerhouses," said Xiao Tian, chief of Chinese winter sports, on Tuesday. "We wish to end the gold medal drought, but it will be very hard."

China won its first gold of Summer Olympics at Los Angeles in 1984, four years after the country made its winter Olympic debut in 1980.

China reached a new high in the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, bringing home six silvers and three bronzes, but nil gold.

But Xiao said that the geographical factor that Japan neighbors China has contributed a lot to performances of the Chinese athletes in the 1998 Games.

"In Nagano, there was not any problem with food, weather or jet lag, but in Salt Lake City, things will be different," he said.

"There is a 15-hour time difference, and quite great contrast in weather conditions, and we will compete at an altitude of between 1,000m and 2,500m above sea level," said Xiao. "This will be a big hindrance for our skaters to perform well," he added.

But it is not the only hindrance. Xiao said that since the 1998 Olympic Games, many countries have made no hesitation to update their winter sports equipment and improve training methods by means of advanced science and technology.

"But we are constrained by economic strength, so that we are slower in this respect," he said.

He added that in the last four years, many countries have done well in replacing veterans with new blood, while China have to field the same lineup as the previous Olympiads.

"For Chinese winter sports, the challenges are greater. It will be tougher to reach the gold-grabbing target than in last winter Olympics," said Xiao.

China Aims to Break Gold Drought at Salt Lake Games