Gunn-Rita Dahle won the cross-country mountain biking competition in Athens. Now Norway expects her to do the same at the Beijing Games as one of its seven medal hopefuls.

"We expect medals in women's mountain biking, men's rowing, women's handball, maybe the women's soccer team (gold medalists at the Sydney Games), if they qualify, and the men's javelin," Marit Murmael, assistant chef de mission at the Norwegian Olympic Committee, told China Daily last week.

"We're also hoping for a medal in shooting. There's one chance for each. Taekwondo, count that as a medal chance as well; so let's say seven."

Dahle got Norway its first Olympic cycling medal in 20 years by finishing the race in Athens in 1:56.51 at the age of 31. A three-time defending world champion in both the cross country and marathon, it will take an act of God to derail her Olympic campaign next year.

The same cannot be said of Siren Sundby, who gold-medaled in the Europe Women's event three years ago. Sailing, traditionally Norway's strongest sport at the Summer Games with 17 golds to date, is not likely to yield it any silverware in Beijing.

"In Athens we won a medal in sailing and one in canoeing, but they won't do as well this time. We're not expecting any medals there," said Murmael.

She admitted that the nation got lucky in Athens, where it ranked 17th overall for its best finish since the 1952 Helsinki Games on the back of five golds.

"We were very short of money at that period so we had to spend all of our funds on those five candidates, and they all succeeded in winning their respective events," she said.

The women's handball team, one of the country's major disappointments from its Athens campaign, is also hoping to see a turnaround in Beijing.

They failed to qualify last time round but have already secured a berth at the 2008 Games by beating Russia in the finals of December's European Championships, which they also won in 1998 and 2004.

The team, led by coach and former star Marit Breivik, has shown itself to be "at least as good" as the team that won a silver medal at the Barcelona Games in 1992, according to Murmael. Now they hope to add a fourth Olympic medal after seizing silver at Seoul 1988 and bronze in Sydney in 2000.

But Breivik was more guarded with her predictions. "I hope to go for a medal, but I'm not sure. Almost every player is new to the Olympics," she said. "We need time, and we will have to have our best players ready.

"Our first goal has to be the World Championships in France later this year."

With stiff competition expected from defending world champion Russia, as well as Hungary, France, South Korea and China, the team will be in China until June 26 for a friendly tournament running from June 21-23 in Hefei, Anhui Province.

Goalkeeper Kristine Lunde, captain Gro Hammerseng and line player Else-Marte Sorlie Lybekk are the team's key assets.

Others on Norway's list of medal hopefuls for 2008 include Athens gold medalist Andreas Torkildsen (javelin), who set the Norwegian record in 2005, Nina Solheim (taekwondo), who lost to China's Luo Wei in the quarterfinals at Athens with a knee injury, and two-time Olympic rowing medalist Olaf Tufte.

Tufte won the single sculls in Athens at the age of 28. He partnered with Fredrik Raaen Bekken four years earlier to grab a silver medal at the double sculls in Sydney.

But this won't necessarily mean anything come Games time. "We say you have to have three times as many chances as the medals you hope for," said Murmael. "So if we have seven hopefuls, we would be very dissatisfied to get less than two."