Wang warms to captain's role

Lei Lei - China Daily - 2008-11-12
Olympic champion Wang Meng can be as frosty as her hometown of Harbin but the new captain of China's women's short track speedskating team says she has reined in her bad temper, forgotten old spats with her coach and is ready to take the team to new heights. [...] Coach Li says things are on the right track.

"The team is following its four-year plan and has achieved everything it set out to do at the competitions so far," she said. "Wang has improved a lot both technically and psychologically and is now a responsible captain."

Men's medal drought
In contrast, China's men have had to deal with a devastating medal drought since the retirement of multiple world and Olympic champion Li Jiajun after Turin.

"Technique-wise, we have developed relatively slowly compared to the rest of the world," said Li Ye, a bronze-medalist in the 5,000m relay in Salt Lake City. "I hope we can patch up the distance as soon as possible and rejoin the world's best."

Coach Li however delivered a more damning verdict.

"The men's team lose before they even reach the starting line," she said, adding that they need to be more motivated and train harder.