IN BRIEF (Page 23)

SOCCER

Beckham's assist lifts Galaxy to win over China side

SHANGHAI: International football star David Beckham inspired the Los Angeles Galaxy to a 3-0 victory over Shanghai-Hong Kong here Wednesday, assisting on the winning goal with a trade-mark right cross.

But the former England captain gave his club a major-league scare, when he limped off the field with a right thigh injury in the 70th minute of the exhibition match.

"I got a kick in my leg the first half just in my thigh, and I felt it start stiffening up during the second half, so obviously the manager decided to bring me off," Beckham said in a post-match press conference.

"It's only precautionary... it's nothing serious," Beckham said, adding that the "dead leg" would be fine in a couple of days.

OLYMPICS

China hopeful for medal in trampoline, official says

A Chinese official is enthusiastic about China's chances of winning medals in trampoline at the upcoming Olympic Games after his athletes won gold and silver medals at the World Championships last year.

"Chinese trampoline athletes have made great progress in recent years, and they are hopefuls to win medals," Gao Jian, director of the gymnastics center of the General Administration of Sport, said on Tuesday.

The athletes are in good form and are fully prepared for the Games, Gao said.

China dominated the men's competition at last year's World Championships as Ye Shuai and Dong Dong won the gold and silver, respectively.

The Chinese gymnastics team experienced a major setback at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, garnering only one gold and two bronze medals, which was far below expectations.

However, the gymnasts were encouraged with five gold medals at last year's World Championships.

"I am sure they will do better than at the previous Games," Gao Jian said.

Wife of Chinese senior IOC official publishes memoir

Liang Lijuan, who is the wife of He Zhenliang, a member of the International Olympic Committee and a main factor in Beijing's winning the 2008 Olympic-hosting rights, launched her book Qingli Shen'ao (Experiencing The Olympic Bid) recently in Beijing.

The book consists of three parts - the Prelude, the First Olympic Bid, the Interlude, and the Second Olympic Bid, covering China's 100-year-plus Olympic movement since 1906. Readers can learn stories and anecdotes about China's two Olympic bids from the wife of an important person in China's Olympic bidding process and also a former senior reporter from China's People's Daily.

The launching ceremony was supported by the Canadian International School and the Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd.

(China Daily 03/07/2008 page23)