大象传媒

A question for you: When the Olympics comes around are you one of those people who a) quite enjoys watching the various sports, but only if there is someone from your country taking part and with a chance of winning a medal? or b) will watch and enjoy anything which provides sporting excellence, intrigue and great drama.

If your answer is "a" then you may well have little interest in the . If, however, you are more open-minded about your sports-watching then the weightlifting is something to savour.

First, though, let's deal with the absence of British competitors. In fact, there may be one. I've just returned from the European Championships in Lignano-Sabbiadoro, near Venice, where I had a chance to have a chat with , the Commonwealth champion in the two years ago.

She was disappointed, having just finished 5th in the 63kg division (even more frustrating, given that her 219 kg total would have given her a bronze medal in the next weight class up), and that wasn't quite good enough for a guaranteed place in Beijing.

The qualifying process is a fairly complicated points system,. Put as simply as possible: depending on how successful your national team is, you will be able to take a certain number of lifters to the Games. Unfortunately, the British team isn't strong enough to earn many points as a whole and Michaela hasn't quite managed enough on her own.

There is, though, one final hope - and a fairly strong one, too. A wildcard invitation. These are given to deserving cases by the and there's no doubt that Breeze is a prime candidate because of her pedigree, past achievements and also taking into account that the next Olympics will be on British soil. Decision time is at the end of May.

Even if that invitation doesn't come, though, the stars of the sport from the rest of the world should grab your attention in Beijing.

May I interest you in the giant Ukrainian woman, , who takes advantage of no upper limit to the women's super-heavyweight category (above 75kg) by tipping the scales at 165 kilos (26 stone)?

Will the man known as the 'Iranian Hercules', , stir himself from a couple of quiet years to take his third gold in the men's super-heavyweight?

And no less fascinating will be the lightest categories, where the very best can lift close to three times their own bodyweight. In Italy I had a brief word with the three-times Olympic champion from Turkey who stands just 4 foot 11 tall. He's back from a two-year drugs ban and unsurprisingly is not quite the force he was. But I was still wary that at any time he might pick me up and start casually shoulder-pressing me.

Of course, all the European stars will be on hostile ground in Beijing, up against the sport's real superpower. Chinese athletes took half the gold medals at last year's World Championships and will have the maximum 10 competitors allowed, sprinkled across the weight categories. All of those will be strong contenders for a gold medal.

The final story from the European Championships, which cannot be ignored, was the total absence of Greek weightlifters after (The other three, it appears, didn't turn-up).

Then came the traditional "not really our fault" explanation, that legal nutritional substances coming from China had been accidentally spiked with banned ingredients. Not impressed, The European Federation removed three Greek officials from prominent positions. And don't expect to see Greek lifters at the Games.

What you should expect, though, is a truly fascinating sporting event. Michaela Breeze may well still be there representing Great Britain but if even if she isn't, the battle, both physical and psychological, to decide who are the strongest men and women in the world should be enough for all those who love true sporting drama.