BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese cycling Olympic hopeful Guo Shuang has shrugged off the world championship's dismay and expressed her confidence for the upcoming
Beijing Olympics after a two-month training in Switzerland here on Sunday.
"I am still a little bit tired, but in a good spirit. Training in the UCI center gave me more confidence for the Olympics," said Guo, who is still fighting against jet leg after coming home on Saturday night.
Born in Inner Mongolia, Guo started cycling at the age of 13, and established her status by beating veteran Jiang Yonghua, the Athens silver medalist to win the crown in the 2005 Chinese National Games.
She then became Chinese cycling's Olympic gold hopeful after collecting one gold medal in sprint at the Asian Games in 2006, two bronze medals in sprint and keirin at the World Championships in 2006, and two silver medals in sprint and keirin at the World Championships in 2007.
However, the 22-year-old star suffered a heavy blow in the Manchester world track championship in March, where she was placed fourth in sprint.
"I was just too eager to win, and did not follow the coach's strategy well. There are many good sprinters in world cycling, I still need to learn more from my opponents," explained Guo.
Under the guidance of her new coach Daniel Morelon, a former French cycling star with eight world champions and triple Olympic titles, Guo made some progress in speeding. She set a new Asian record of 200 meters in sprint in 12.002 seconds in Manchester.
However, in Morelon's eyes, Guo was not strong enough to compete with western cyclists. He said: "Guo still need be more stronger and do not easily get tired. Speeding burned energy quickly. If you are not strong enough, you could not compete with names like Victoria Pendeton and Rebecca Romero. "
"In Switzerland, followed my coach's new strategies for Olympics, I had tried my best to regain more energy during the past two month. I still need to practise some before the Olympics," added Guo.
According to Jiang Guofeng, secretary general of the Chinese Cycling Association (CCA), Guo will start her training on August 1.
"We do not want to put much pressure on Guo even we have high expectations on women's sprint. I hope she can forget the unhappiness of the Manchester world championship and concentrate on the preparation for the Olympic," said Jiang.
In
Beijing Olympics, Guo will compete with British legend Victoria Pendeton, rising star Rebecca Romero and American speed specialist Jennie Reed in women's sprint.
Guo said: "We all know each other well. Pendeton has speed and experience, Romero was stronger. As for Reed, I was beaten 2-1 by her in Manchester. I do not want that thing to happen again. "
Editor: Gao
