 Getting off to a roaring start
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-12 08:58 Chinese rowing teams are emerging as strong contenders and could win a first gold in the sport for the country, with three more crews finishing first in their heats on Sunday and boosting the total to five top spots in the first two days of the Olympic competition. "I don't think it will affect our preparation at all, really," US coxswain Marcus McElhenney said. "We often have to bend to the will of Mother Nature. We're ready to go. Another few hours isn't going to make a huge difference." The United States won gold in the eight for the first time in 40 years at the Athens Games in 2004. "China is one of the best," said Marit van Eupen, of the Netherlands. "They are really dangerous." Tang Bin, Jin Ziwei, Xi Aihua and Zhang Yangyang won a four-boat women's quadruple sculls heat in 6 minutes, 11.83 seconds - the best time of all eight boats competing in the two heats - and advanced to the final. Xu Dongxiang and Yu Hua - who set a world-best time in this event two years ago - won their heat in the lightweight women's double sculls in 6:57.58. Their time, however, was nearly 8 seconds off the pace of the top mark of the event set by the Netherlands. The lightweight men's four crew of Huang Zhongming, Wu Chongkui, Zhang Lin and Tian Jun won a five-boat heat in 5:51.30. This was the same crew that won the 2006 world championships and, combined with some impressive wins in Europe this year, they have become a heavy gold favorite. "They were just a bit too much for us," Britain's James Lindsay-Fynn said. Britain finished second in the heat and its foursome was impressed with China's performance. The rowers also enjoyed the camaraderie of the fan-favorite Chinese. "They're really good characters and we get on with them, despite us only speaking three words of Chinese, and them only speaking three words of English," James Clarke said. The impressive development of the Chinese squad, after it failed to win a medal in Athens four years ago, follows the recruitment of experienced foreign coaches and investment in the sport. Rival rowers and coaches have praised the Chinese team, although some have questioned whether the home course could in fact put the rowers under more pressure. "Maybe the pressure is too much," Germany's head coach Michael Muller said this week. "It's a very short and high development of performance in three years." Agencies (China Daily 08/12/2008 page26) |
