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Le Jingyi's Olympic Hope in Vapor
To be a third-time Olympian was a dream for Chinese swimmer Le Jingyi, but now her hope of making a berth in the national squad was scorched by her poor performance at the national selection meet.
After a two-year lay-off, Le competed for the first time in Ji' Nan, the last chance for Chinese swimmers to qualify for the Sydney Olympic Games and showed a rusty 50 meters freestyle with 26.08 seconds.
"I am upset that I loss my chance to meet the Olympic standard and complete my dream of being a third-time Olympic swimmer," said the disappointed Le, who placed a distant sixth while her younger teammate Xu Yanwei took the crown in 25.64
The 25-year-old Le, 100m freestyle gold medalist in Atlanta and a member of 4X100m freestyle runner-up in Barcelona, had plagued by hepatitis in 1998 and resumed training just for three months. "I am always confident about myself, but this time I have to say I am not ready enough for the Olympic trial," she said.
Le, former world record holder in the women's 50m and 100m freestyle, blamed hepatitis for obstructing her third Olympic ride. Le spent two months in the United States, said her technical form was coming back, but not her strength.
"If I was fully prepared I would have qualified for the Sydney Games. However, I am glad I tried my best to make my dream come true."
Le said she will probably quit the sport, but remain the possibility to compete the ninth National Games next year as soon as her hometown team Shanghai calls
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