BEIJING, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Top Chinese sports officials have kept playing down hopes of overhauling the United States for the first place in the medals table of the Beijing Olympics, but the host's ambition is hard to be hidden from the public.

"A wise man talks rarely but acts quickly," said Chinese ancient philosopher Confucius. More than 2,550 years later, his philosophy is still popular among modern Chinese who believe in the importance of being modest and keeping low profile when trying to do something big.

"Our objective is to keep our position on top of the 'Second Group' at the medals table, and I think we can reap 20 gold medals if we perform to normal standard," Li Furong had said before the Chinese sports delegation headed to Athens four years ago.

But Chinese athletes turned out to claim 12 more golds than the former chef-de-mission predicted, making China stand the second only behind the United States, which took home 36 golds. The happy surprise sent the whole country into tremendous celebrations.

Four years after the Athens Games, the expectations of ordinary Chinese were even higher as the Olympics were going to be held for the first time in the country with a history of over 5,000 years.

"I am not sure how many gold medals we can win this time, but I guess it may be more than 32," said Wang Chengcai, a 60-year-old retired engineer who lives within two kilometers from the Bird's Nest.

"I think our athletes will have better performances than they did in Athens," he added.

Zhang Haifeng, spokesman for the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC), said at a press conference on July 22 that the Chinese sports delegation would strive for more than 32 gold medals at the Beijing Olympics. However, his statement was overruled by the COC with a written press release the following day.

"The Chinese Olympic Committee has never made predictions about the medals," it read. "What Mr. Zhang Haifeng has said is only his personal wish."

Surprise continued when the COC unveiled its largest delegation for the Beijing Games on July 25 but delayed the announcement of the list until the next day, arousing speculations that senior Chinese officials had been trying to exclude any athletes with unclear doping-related history.

At the same time, it has become more and more difficult to interview Chinese athletes as the Games approaches, especially those players with great potentials to win medals.

"You have to ask the permission of my coach or team leader before I can talk," that's what many Chinese athletes would say when asked for an interview.

Chinese sports officials have tried hard to cool down medal expectations of the public, while the athletes spare no efforts in training halls aiming for their best performances.

The Dream Team of Chinese diving, who snatched six gold medals at the Athens Games, are expected to sweep all eight on offer in Beijing.

"The Olympic Games will be really difficult, but we will try our best," said Zhou Jihong, team leader of the Chinese diving team.

After winning three golds at Athens, the Chinese badminton team is also seeking breakthrough on home soil.

"We will try to win more than three golds this time," said Chinese badminton head coach Li Yongbo. "It will be a failure if we take home less than three golds."

A golden harvest of China is predictable in the sports of diving, badminton, table tennis, weight lifting, shooting and gymnastics, where Chinese athletes reaped 22 out of a total of 32 gold medals of the Chinese delegation in Athens.

What's more, some other sports including canoeing, rowing, boxing, fencing and beach volleyball have witnessed remarkable progress of Chinese athletes in the past four years.

"Chinese athletes have made considerable improvement in the sports that they have great potentials, but their performances are not stable enough," said Cui Dalin, deputy chef-de-mission of the Chinese sports delegation for the Beijing Games. "It will be very difficult to win gold medals in these sports."

Despite an overall bright prospect at the Beijing Games, China will have very limited title hope in track and field events and swimming, with 110 meters hurdle champion Liu Xiang the only one to defend the honor of the host country in those popular Olympic sports.

"We have to face the reality, hopefully our athletes can improve themselves through this Olympics and have better performances in the future," said Cui Dalin.

Cui also urged the Chinese athletes to show their competing spirits in football, basketball and volleyball, which enjoy great popularity and called in general "three big ball events" in the country.

"We can lose games, but we cannot lose our face," Cui said.

The Chinese women's volleyball team are to defend its title at the Beijing Games while the Chinese men's basketball team led by Yao Ming are eying a top eight finish.