The golden age may be over

A gymnast practices on the bars during an open training session for China's national team last month. The host claimed nine gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. [Photo by Wang Jing / China Daily]

China's national gymnastics teams have already accepted that they won't repeat the dominant Olympics they enjoyed in Beijing, as retirements and injuries are taking their toll, Sun Xiaochen reports.

With veterans retired and key performers injured, the Chinese national gymnastics team is playing down its chances of duplicating its 2008 Beijing success in London this summer.

The international powerhouse bagged nine gold medals - including the prestigious men's and women's team all-around competitions - out of the 14 categories at home four years ago, which comprised a big portion of the nation's 51-gold haul in Beijing.

However, it is unrealistic to expect an equally exceptional result in London. The roster has become thinner through retirements, even as major opponents like Japan and the United States have improved.

Despite finishing first on the medals table at last year's world championships in Japan, the team saw a sharp decline, reaping four titles, while the US and Japan grabbed six between them.

"Beijing was great, but everything has changed," said team leader Ye Zhennan at a recent training session in Beijing.

"We won't have the home advantage, our opponents have improved and we are struggling through a roster change. Obviously, London won't be as good as Beijing."

Still, the squad vows to deliver its best despite the tougher situation.

"For now, we are just concentrating on how to use our current roster to maximum effect, and we will try to fight for the best results we can get," Ye said.

Using the World Cup series' Shandong leg as a drill last month, the team rediscovered some of its 2008 form by claiming six titles. It hopes to build on that effort at home.

"The test (the World Cup) showed that we still need to improve the quality and stability of our routines," said Ye. "We will try to cut our mistakes at the national trials and tune up for the final intense training in June."

According to Ye, the team will draft its initial Olympic lineup after the ongoing national trials in Shanghai, and the final 10-strong list will be announced near the opening of the Games.

Big blow on men's side

With the retirements of Beijing's individual all-around winner Yang Wei and team event members Li Xiaopeng and Huang Xu, the men's talent pool has shrunk in terms of experience and versatility.

"It will be extremely hard for us to defend the team event title this time," said Chen Yibing, men's captain and Beijing Olympics rings gold medalist.

"We lack the all-around talent now, so everybody has to dig deeper and try to make up for each other's weak event."

Inspired by Chen, pommel horse Olympic champion Xiao Qin has started to work out on the rings, an event he dropped for 10 years.

Meanwhile, Beijing gold-medal winning team member Zou Kai is keen to defend his individual titles on the floor and the horizontal bar.

Stressing the team event title is the most coveted, Chen reminded his teammates to be alert of the threat from Japan.

Led by last year's world championship all-around winner Kohei Uchimura, Japan expects to be in the hunt for three titles, including team and individual all-around, this summer and will challenge China's attempt to dominate the medals table.

However, Chen remains confident.

"We still boast the advantage of big-game experience and winning momentum," he said.

Slump in women's field

The Chinese women's gymnastics team could be in for a hard time at the Olympics.

The female team has grabbed five gold medals since its Games debut in 1984, 12 fewer than the men.

This summer in London, the situation could become dire as the team's former specialty events - vault and uneven bars - have lost some of their strength due to core gymnasts' career slumps.

With three-time vault world champion Cheng Fei and Beijing uneven bars winner He Kexin struggling with injuries and a distinct lack of confidence, the unseasoned women's team could face a potential gold-less Olympics in London.

Promising gymnasts Sui Lu and Yao Jinnan will spearhead China's fight for a share of the medals against tough rivals, including the US, Russia and Romania.

Without Cheng and He, China will have little chance of challenging the versatile US team in the team event. A silver medal would be a more realistic goal.

Sui's favorite event, the balance beam, in which she won her first world championship last year, and Yao's individual all-around are two potential gold winners, while uneven bars specialist Huang Qiushuang is expected to challenge Britain's Elizabeth Tweddle for the crown in that event.

"According to recent World Cup results, we are good for now. But for the caliber of opposition we will face in London, we are still a distance away," said Lu Shanzhen, the women's head coach.

"We won't take the risk of increasing the difficulty of the routines with less than three months left, but we will try to improve every routine's quality and consistency."

Contact the writer at sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn