Wang putting plan in motion

China's national team has gathered at a training camp in Wanning, Hainan province, to prepare for the 2019-20 season under new head coach and fourtime Olympic short track champion Wang Meng.

About 140 athletes are attending, including Gao Tingyu, the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist in the men's 5 0 0 m, along with three-time Olympic short track champion Zhou Yang and promising prospects Li Qishi and Jin Jingzhu.

Wang boosted the morale of her charges by giving them mottos of several Olympic champions, including that of multiple gold medalist Sven Kramer of the Netherlands: "Being satisfied with silver is not my view of top sport."

"I hope these mottos can help you find inside yourselves the craving to win championships," Wang told them.

"We must join hands for a better future of Chinese speed skating."

Wang also announced the members of her coaching staff, which includes more than 50 from the Netherlands, the United States, South Korea, Russia and Serbia.

According to Wang's plan, the national team will adopt a threetier structure, with skaters moving up or down the depth chart, depending on their performance.

One of the most decorated short track speed skaters of all time, Wang fractured her ankle when she collided with a teammate while training in Shanghai for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

After that, the 34-year-old, who won her first Olympic gold medal at Turin in 2006, walked away from the track.

Last May, Wang returned to the stage to launch a new chapter in her career by turning to coaching.

The target of the national team in the new season is wide participation in international tournaments, including World Cup, the world championships and the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Xinhua