China's gymnasts are set for another impressive gold-medal haul
at next month's world championships but they already have the
Beijing Olympics on their minds.
Gold medallist Yang Wei of
China blinks with his eye to his supporters during the podium
ceremony for the men's individual all-around final at the 39th
Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, October
19, 2006. China's Yang Wei won the gold medal on Thursday followed
by Japan's silver medallist Hiroyuki Tomita and Germany's bronze
medal Fabian Hambuechen. (Reuters)
The Olympic hosts say avoiding injury and trying out young
gymnasts before the Games next year are more important than
defending their eight world titles at the September 1-9
championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
Olympic business is top of the agenda for the other competitors
too because the championships are the last before the Games and
serve as qualifiers for them. The top 12 teams at the world
championships earn places for Beijing.
"Our prior goal is not winning the gold medals at the worlds but
preventing injury ... because the 2008 Olympics are getting close,"
China head coach Huang Yubin told the country's official sports
website www.sport.org.cn earlier this month.
"My biggest concern is unpredictable injuries before the
Games."
Despite talk of gold medals taking a backseat, the Chinese are
favorites to hold on to the men's and women's team titles they won
last year in Aarhus, Denmark.
Their strength in depth is such that they will barely feel the
absence of double Olympic and eight-times world champion Li
Xiaopeng, a parallel bars specialist, who has a toe injury.
In the men's competition, the strongest challengers are likely
to be Japan, Romania and Russia, whose battered confidence has been
lifted by Maxim Deviatovsky's all-round gold at the European
championships earlier this year.
The United States, silver medallists at the 2004 Olympics, need
to hope their dismal showing at last year's worlds was a blip if
they want to qualify for Beijing.
A repeat of their 13th place in the team standings would exclude
them from the Olympics.
The Americans have a much better chance of medals in the women's
event thanks to emergence of 15-year-old Shawn Johnson, who won
four golds at this year's Pan American Games, as well as the
all-round title at the US nationals.
The Chinese women's team also has a new look to it, with four of
the eight members competing at this level for the first time.
Uneven bar specialist Li Ya has been ruled out with an elbow
injury.
Romania have been boosted by the return of triple Olympic gold
medallist Catalina Ponor, who has come out of retirement to head
the squad. Without her at last year's worlds, the Romanian women
failed to win a team medal for the first time in 25 years.
Italian Vanessa Ferrari will aim to defend her all-round title
but could find Johnson is among those launching a strong challenge
in a competition that should provide a good indication of podium
finishes at next year's Olympics.
(China Daily via Reuters August 30, 2007)
