Building for the future

Recruiting athletes from other disciplines into Olympic sports should help enhance China's chances

With the goal of expanding its profile on the global sports stage, China is rolling out a cross-sport talent selection program to identify and develop future Olympians.

From skating rinks to ski jumps, and from running tracks to skeleton courses, some of China's first-time Winter Olympic breakthroughs in Pyeongchang have been achieved by talent drafted from other sports as part of an innovative plan to turn total neophytes into future medal contenders.