Wang Liping retired in 2005, five years after winning the 20km race walk in Sydney, but will join the action next year in Beijing as a referee for track and field.

"I'm studying to get the qualification now and I hope I can be an athletics referee at the 2008 Beijing Games," said the 31-year-old.

Wang, who started training for race walking at the age of 13, was set to debut at the 1996 Atlanta Games, but a last-gasp injury meant she would have to wait four more years for the opportunity to arise.

"About one month before the national qualification race for the Games, I got a severe knee injury and I was sent home to let it heal," she said.

"My coach nearly sentenced me to an early retirement but I was saved by my father's insistence that I continue.

"Back in 1994, my coach told my father that he was confident he could train me to win the world championship, which my father took as a kind of prediction. (This) finally helped me conquer the injury."

"When I was back, I treasured the opportunity to compete even more and trained harder for a good result," she said.

In Sydney, Wang finally took the gold after the other race leaders were disqualified for committing fouls. Since she was not China's leading gold-medal hope, Wang was considered a dark horse. Her victory was attributed more to luck than real strength and some media called it a plotted strategy within the Chinese race walking team.

"I was very angry at the time because when I came back to China, most of the journalists asked me the same question about the gold medal," said Wang. "Race walking is an event that is full of accidents. I won because my techniques had been approved by the referees."

After the Sydney Games, Wang kept her distance from the public. She married quietly at home and gave birth to a daughter in October 2002.

After mulling permanent retirement, she resumed training in January 2003, just three months after the birth of her daughter.

"When all of the veteran athletes retired at that time, our race walking team hit a trough and no one could reach the top three in international competitions, which rarely happened before.

"So the team officials called me to come back and help the team build its confidence," she said.

"I also did not want to withdraw while I was at my peak, and I did not want to have any regrets."

But Wang failed to regain her initial glory, only mustering an eighth-place finish at the 2004 Athens Games. After ranking 13th at the National Games in 2005, she rebounded later in the year to cap her career with a gold at the East Asian Games.

"I never regretted my decision to return as I did my best when I was young. I'm also proud to be a mother athlete, especially at such an event that requires great endurance, which is not very common among Chinese athletes," Wang said. Although officially retired from all competitions, Wang has got a grade one refereeing certificate and is preparing to sit the examination to become a national referee.

Although she cannot compete at next year's Olympics, she is expecting much of her fellow walkers.

"The Beijing Games is a good opportunity for the Chinese walkers," Wang said. "I think at least one gold medal will be gained from the three events, namely the men's 20km and 50km, and the women's 20km."

After retiring, Wang entered Beijing Sports University to pursue a Master's degree in sports education. She will graduate this year.

She hopes to one day teach physical education at a university in Beijing.