Though there are still two years before the XXIX Olympiad, Chinese gymnasts are working limbering up for it. Top-match gymnasts of the Chinese Gymnastic Team except Li Xiaopeng, who is suffering from an injury in his foot, will start a simulation test from August 7 to 11.

 

Seventeen boys and twenty-one girls will take the test. The girls are categorized into all-round, single and probationary groups. Ten of them will be selected through the test result to compete in the XXIX Olympiad. The test will be conducted in the mornings, as competitions in the XXIX Olympiad will be held in the morning for the convenience of the gymnasts from European countries.

 

Zhang Peiwen, leader of the Chinese Gymnastic Team, said the test would simulate everything that gymnasts might encounter in a real competition including judges and noises. There will be more tests of this kind in 2007

 

The team will also make some modifications to the work and rest schedule of the members. For example, they will have to get out of the habit of taking a nap after launch, as there will be midday competitions in the XXIX Olympiad.

 

(Chinanews.cn August 4, 2006)