I could have done a better job, says China's skeleton bronze medalist

YANQING, Beijing, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese skeleton athlete Yan Wengang said on Sunday he could have done a better job in the men's competition of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

Debutant Yan Wengang took bronze in the men's event, the first Olympic medal in any sliding sport for China.

But the 24-year-old said on Sunday that he could have avoided some minor mistakes during his four runs at the National Sliding Centre.

"To get a bronze medal, I'm both happy and unhappy. I don't think I presented the best of my capability," said Yan.

"During the competition, I made big and small mistakes, some of which never occurred during training.

"To get a bronze in such circumstances, I'm happy but I feel that I could have done a better job," he added.

According to China's coach Andreas Schmid, Yan has good reasons to be regretful.

"To hear Yan say now that he wasn't happy about his performance because he could've been better - yes, that's true. A gold medal was possible with the performance he showed in training," said Schmid.