´óÏó´«Ã½

There are some gold medals in these Olympics which are so easy to predict that it's surprising that the medal ceremony isn't held before the Games begin so as to get it all out of the way.

There are four medal events in the - and China expects to win every single one of them. Ping-pong is, of course, this country's national sport (I've spent many happy hours being routinely slaughtered at the table tennis table by Chinese players of all ages).

In some ways, the Olympic Games have come to Beijing because of ping pong. In 1971, an American table tennis team was invited to play a tournament in Beijing - they were the first Americans officially allowed to visit China's capital since the Communist Revolution of 1949. The visit was a success (helped, of course, by the fact that China won the tournament). This original bit of opened the way for President Nixon to visit Beijing a year later. After that, the path was set. A few years later China opened up to the world - and the Beijing Olympics are the end result.

So, for China, table tennis is at the heart of these Games. Its three male and three female players each happen to be ranked one, two and three in the world (which means that getting a place on the Chinese Olympic team is often much harder than competing at the actual Games themselves).

One Chinese player never had any problems qualifying, competing, or winning. Deng Yaping won four Olympic gold medals (women's singles and doubles at the '92 and '96 Games).

"What was your killer shot?" I asked her recently.

"Forehand," she laughed, swishing a bat semi-ferociously in the air, "Only three people could return it."

is one of the most famous athletes in China. She retired more than a decade ago at the age of 24 and then went on to study in Britain - where she gained a doctorate at Cambridge Universtity (not that her CV needed any padding).

She's currently in charge of the Olympic village in Beijing (where she ensured that the 7ft tall basketball players were given extra-long beds). Deng Yaping will be in the crowd for the ping pong.

"There's great pressure on all the Chinese athletes," she said, "because they want to perform better. But at the same time they get more supporters from the audience and the Chinese people. I think great athletes don't mind who cheers - they concentrate on one thing - competition."

Just in case any of you need to know, how should an athlete go about winning an Olympic gold medal (or four)?

"Winning a gold is not simple," she said, "I think that self-improvement is important. You have to control yourself very well. Don't get too excited. Because some are young, they can't control themselves too well. They have to save their energy."

Let's see if China's current players follow her tips.

• Bookmark with:
• |
• |
• |
• |
• - What's this?