At the table tennis stadium, Hu urged on the players from a sport that China has dominated, winning 16 Olympic gold medals over the years. On the team are such top players as Wang Nan and Zhang Yining.

"I hope you can have more exchanges with athletes from other countries and regions to work together for boosting the development of table tennis in the world," he said.

"I'm looking forward to your good news."

Hu also visited the weightlifting athletes and women's volleyball players.

Athens Games weightlifting gold medal winner Chen Yanqing told the president "Just watch me at the Games!" While Feng Kun, captain of the national women's volleyball team, told Hu: "We will repay the motherland and the people with the best results."

Chinese athletes have qualified to compete in all 262 events within the 28 Olympic sports, marking the first time that the country's athletes are represented across the board at an Olympics. The Chinese national delegation at the Beijing Games will also be the largest in the country's Olympic history.

At the training venues on Wednesday, Hu also visited the athletes' dining hall and rehabilitation center, urging the cooks to continue to prepare delicious meals and the doctors to provide thoughtful services.

He also voiced strong support for anti-doping.

"Anti-doping is a precondition for hosting a successful Games," he said after signing his name on a scroll for anti-doping. "As the host nation, China is obliged to set a good example in this regard."

"We must ensure the Chinese delegation attend the Games cleanly and make positive contributions to safeguard the purity of the Olympics."

Apart from boosting morale of the country's athletes, the president had shown concerns for the preparatory work at Olympic venues.

During a visit to the eastern city of Qingdao on Sunday, the venue of the Olympic sailing event, Hu highly praised the use of renewable energy and environment-friendly material in the buildings of the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center. He urged the center staff to make greater efforts for the preparations.

Starting in mid-June, the coast of Qingdao was coated with a vast algae coming from the Yellow Sea. A bright green covering of algae smothered beaches and extended out several hundred meters. It once covered 32 percent of the sailing venue at the peak of the outbreak.

Hu expressed satisfaction with the efforts Qingdao had made to clean the seawater and make it qualified for the sailing event, and urged local authorities to continue to keep alert.

He also encouraged Chinese athletes to achieve good results and voiced sincere welcome for foreign athletes.

"The Chinese people are showing their warm welcome to athletes from all over the world. We will do our best to provide good service for you," he told some foreign athletes who were training at the center.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2008)