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Chinese fencing team aim at Olympic gold
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2007-02-01 11:37
COC
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It's biting code outside. But inside the national fencing team's training hall in west Beijing's Laoshan Training Base, the fencers throw themselves into winter training with immense zeal, working on mutual attacks and physical efficiency. The red five-star national flag hanging from the ceiling and the countdown board for the 2008 Beijing Olympics on the wall serve to motivate them all the time.
The Olympic Games in Beijing is a golden chance for Chinese fencers. However, they were dealt a heavy blow when two team events, men's foil and women’s epee, in which the Chinese team boasts some advantage, were removed from the 2008 Olympic programme by the International Fencing Federation (FIE).
After the Athens Olympics in 2004, the Chinese team summarized its experience in a meticulous way and carried out a major reshuffle. A large number of veterans, including the well-known "Three Musketeers" of the Chinese foil team Wang Haibin, Ye Chong and Dong Zhaozhi, retired, and the coaching group was also adjusted, with Wang Haibin, Zhao Gang and other young coaches taking over. In August 2006, the team also invited Christian Bauer, a well-known coach from France, to be its new head coach.
Can the Chinese team win gold medals at the next Olympics? Ji Daoming, head of the Fencing Department of the Cycling and Fencing Administrative Center under the General Administration of Sport, said: "The Chinese team achieved good results in a series of major international tournaments last year, which brought us added confidence in preparing ourselves for the Beijing Olympics. Now we have set our sights on four events, namely men's and women's epee, men's foil and women's saber, and will redouble our efforts in the lead-up to the 2008 Games. However, nobody can guarantee that Chinese fencers will strike gold at Beijing 2008. Currently, the Chinese fencing team consists mainly of young fencers who are still inexperienced and perform unstably. In addition, the coaches are also young. Though the fencers have recently improved remarkably with the help of their coaches, they would sometimes failed to bring out their best under the tremendous pressure from such major world tournaments as the Olympic Games. We can only say that we have very promising fencers who will strive for Olympic honors on home soil."
In a little more than five months under Christian Bauer's coaching, Chinese saber fencers have made marked progress thanks to his unique and advanced training concepts and methods. The French coach is therefore full of confidence that he will be able to lead the Chinese team to a new high at Beijing 2008.
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