Young Sailors to Grow up and Make History: Chinese Official

Home>>Sports

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, October 10, 2002

Young Sailors to Grow up and Make History: Chinese Official

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Chinese sailors may still lack experiences but they are no longer the newcomers in the Olympics Games and are determined to make China a powerhouse in sailing, said a Chinese sailing official here on Wednesday.

China made an impressive improvement in sailing in the Busan Asian Games by grabbing six out of fifteen gold medals, together with four silvers and one bronze.

Yao Xinpei, the leader of Chinese sailing teams, said, "Our sailors have gained a lot of experiences these past three years. After the success in the Asiad, our aim will be an Olympic gold medal."

Chinese sailors have taken part in five Olympic Games since 1984 but never won a gold medal. The best result for Chinese sailors was a silver medal in Barcelona in 1992.

Yao said that the young Chinese team, which has an average age of 24, was aiming at making history in Athens Olympics in 2004.

"We have an upper hand over our Asian opponents in women's Europe Class and both women's and men's sailing board. We will try to win a gold in one of these events in Olympics, and of course, the more the better." said Yao.

Among six sailing board golds in Asiad, China claimed three of them. Zhou Yuanguo, who placed fourth in the Sydney Olympics, claimed a gold in men's Mistral Light Class, while Sun Maochun crowned in Raceboard Heavy Class.

Another Chinese female sailor Lu Chenfeng won the Europe Class title of boat events.

"There will be no subdivisions in Olympics," said Yao, "Sailing board only awards two titles, men's and women's. So it is a very hard task for China to win one of them."

"But sailing is a sports in which experience plays a very important role. Our sailors have the abilities and they need to gain more experiences from competitions.

"They will make history for China in Athens, and they are determined to do so." said Yao.

"What's more, they will also have the chance to take part in the Beijing Olympics in 2008." added Yao.

Questions?Comments? Click here

China's Xu Lijia Wins Women's Sailing Optimist Girls Gold

Lee Lai-shan of Chinese HK Wins Women's Sailing Mistral Gold

>> Full Coverage

Developer Plans to Raise Titanic in Shanghai ( 2 Messages)

Fewer Slogans, More Practical, Reflect Social Changes in China ( 3 Messages)

China Opposes US Congress Committee's Interference in China's Internal Affairs ( 2 Messages)

Multinationals Fight for Chinese Markets ( 2 Messages)