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Coach of the Chinese cross-country ski team, Per-Erik "Peken" Ronnestrand believes the nation's skiers will improve gradually and get into the top 10 for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

"I think they will be between 20 to 30 for the Turin Winter Olympics. But in 2010, some of them could be in the top 10," said the Swede after the 50km Vasaloppet cross-country race in Jingyuetan at Changchun on Sunday.

The former head coach of the Swedish national cross country team took the helm of China's national team just four months ago, but was pleased to see a remarkable improvement in the week-long Vasaloppet China.

The team had just returned from a very successful start of the FIS World Cup season, with several strong results, which included Li Geliang's victory over the 2005 winner of the Swedish Vasaloppet (90 km) - Oskar Svard - in a 42 km race in Sweden on December 18.

Li failed to repeat the feat on home soil, having to settle for third place after finishing behind the winner Stanislav Rezak of Czech Republic and second-placed Svard.

But the coach is full of praise of Li.

"He did a good job. He was close to beating two of the world's best skiers in long distance.

"Li is getting better and better and he will be among the world's best in the future."

A confident Li now looks to an even more impressive performance in Turin and next year's Vasaloppet.

"I will try to challenge the best skiers from the world in Turin. And in the next Vasaloppet, I hope I can win."

In women's 50km, national champion Li Hongxue was crowned with teammates Wang Chunli and Jiang Chunli coming in second and third.

Ronnestrand is confident that with three to four years of practice, both men and women skiers will be able to compete with the best skiers in the world.

"They train as much as their European competitors. Together with the Chinese coaches, we'll make some adjustments in technique and equipment, and then I'm confident we'll soon be fighting with the best," Ronnestrand said.

"Our players are quite new in these competitions. They are mentally strong and this is very important for their development."

Cooperation

Vasaloppet 2006 is being brought to China by Nordic Ways, a Scandinavian company working to promote branded sports events in China, in conjunction with the Chinese Ski Association (CSA) and Changchun Municipal Government.

Following several years of successful collaboration, the two parties, Nordic Ways and CSA, have now further formalized the co-operation, outlining events, international competitions, training and equipment support for the coming four years.

New Swede Ronnestrand, Nordic Ways and CSA have put together an extensive training and competition program in Europe for China's top-x-country skiers, starting in Dusseldorf, Germany on October 22, and leading all the way to the Winter Olympic Games in Turin in February.

"They trained in Europe over the last few months and had the good experience of competing with the best skiers. We finished 26 and 28 in the World Cup.

"And we will have high-level training with the Italian team from mid-January. We will benefit a lot before the Olympic Games," Ronnestrand said.

Ten Chinese skiers have so far qualified for the Olympics, with the aspiration of more to come as FIS points will be obtained early on in the season.

"International competitions are essential for the further development of the team, as we saw last season," Ronnestrand said.

Among the notable successes were a third place in the relay competition in the Universiade; top places in FIS competitions in Ramsau, Austria and Reit Im Winkel, and impressive results in Vasaloppet 90-km race in Sweden.

Moreover, China will be the focus of the international X-Country Skiing Scene this coming winter season as the country will host a World Cup competition in X-country skiing for the first time in March.

(China Daily January 4, 2006)