Chinese gymnasts have been doing normally so far, Chinese coaches said after the Chinese men's and women's teams finished their first pre-game training at the National Indoor Stadium on Monday.
"The training and competitive level of the Chinese gymnasts are both normal, and all the gymnasts have not picked up any new injuries," said Zhang Peiwen, spokesman for the Chinese gymnastics team.
Before moving into the Olympic Village on Sunday, the Chinese gymnasts had been doing their training at their training camp, Zhang said.
On Monday, the Chinese men's and women's team had a three-hour practice session in the morning. In the afternoon, the women's team came back to the stadium for another two-hour training.
Lu Shanzhen, head coach of the women's team, also said following the Chinese women gymnasts' training in the afternoon that his answer to all questions concerning his girls are "all are normal".
Lu hoped that his girls, among whom only leading figure Chen Fei has Olympic experience, won't come under too much pressure on home soil.
"They will feel stress if the journalists keep throwing questions like 'which medal do you think you can get?' They were trained in a closed environment. Even if we want to change, it needs some time," he said.
On the newly-obtained injury of Chellsie Memmel of the US team, both Zhang and Lu said even the injury does matter to the Americans, it will not affect the Chinese team psychologically as gymnastics is not a sport with strong competitiveness, and gymnasts are virtually competing against themselves for best performance.
It is common for gymnasts to get injured, said Zhang, adding that it depends on where and how serious the injury is.
If only slightly injured, Memmel may recover soon and be able to compete in the games, otherwise, the US women's team may be affected to some extend, he said.
However, Zhang said, no matter how the situation of the opponents is, the Chinese team will not be affected. "We have been asking our gymnasts to compete against themselves. We need to stay calm and concentrated on ourselves in the competition."
Lu also said he believed Memmel's injury will not be too serious and will not affect her too much in competition. "I believe that to a gymnast like Memmel, such an injury will not be a big deal," he said.
Earlier reports said Memmel, the former all-around world champion, injured her ankle while training on Sunday, and the USA Gymnasts also confirmed Memmel's injury in a brief statement.
But witnesses said on Monday that they did not see Memmel training with her teammates on Sunday morning and that the injury may be obtained in earlier trainings.
The American women were expected to offer stiff competition against the hosts but Memmel's injury is suspected to give more chances to the Chinese, bidding for a medal haul on home soil.
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2008)