As the Olympic flame for the 2008 Games is lit over Beijing, whether China, with a century-old Olympic dream, will challenge U.S. domination on the gold medal tally has become a hotly discussed topic in China. Chinese athletes and coaches have been dreaming about the day when China will become the main sports power in the world for a long time. They are aware of the fact that the American delegation still possesses the strength to be a daunting competition to China. To top the medal tally in 2008, China needs to make its athletes to be in the best state, as well as good luck.

On the gymnastics court

Strong events for Chinese and American athletes have offered limited overlapping and chance for contest. The American team has been weak in badminton and table tennis, where China enjoys traditional advantages. Meanwhile, it is difficult for Chinese athletes to pocket any medals except for a handful of events in the track-and-field and swimming events, two fields that American athletes dominate. The competition between Chinese and American teams in overlapped fields where both are strong medal candidates will decide the final ranking of the two countries on the medal tally.

Gymnastics has previously been the largest overlapped field, though it has been one of China's traditional strong events. Every Olympics, the gymnastics venue usually gives Chinese sports fans a lot of surprises and excitement. However, the Chinese gymnastic team reaps far less medals in the Olympics than in the world championships of the previous year. The Chinese gymnastics team pocketed only one gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, far less than the five gold medals of the World Gymnastics Championship of the previous year and less than the three gold medals and two silver medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

When China sent its team back to the Olympics in Los Angeles, 1984 after a long-term absence, the male gymnastics team was an acknowledged dream team with numerous top gymnasts such as Li Ning and Lou Yun. Although China's male team lost the gold medal for team match to the American team, which was boosted by home advantage, the Chinese gymnastics team still showed their great strength with three gold medals won by Li Ning, one gold medal by Lou Yun and one gold medal won by Ma Yanhong. The total of five gold medals has been the best record of the Chinese Olympic gymnastics squad.

Also at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the Romanian women's gymnastics team had a similar visiting team experience when competing against American gymnasts. American gymnast Mary Lou Retton beat a Romanian athlete at the last minute to win the all-around title by scoring 10 on the vault. When American gymnastics fans think of victory, they think of a dramatic scene at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. After Kerri Strugg of the American team performed on the final vault on an injured ankle at the team match, her spirit won her thunderous applause from the American audience. A high score, partly due to judges' sympathy for Strugg, guaranteed the title for the U.S. team. During the 2004 Olympic Games, Paul Hamm made history when he clinched the first Olympic men's gymnastics all-around title for the U.S.. Hamm refused to return the gold medal later after it was found out that he won it due to a judging error.

At the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese men's and women's teams both have athletes that are strong candidates for gold medals in events of men's team match, all around competition, pommel horse and rings, and women's vault and asymmetrical bars. Thus, hopes are high that China's total gold medals in gymnastics could surpass the record set in 1984. Although Olympic champion in all-around competition, Hamm was forced to withdraw from the Beijing Olympics due to injury. The U.S. women's team remains a daunting competitor to Chinese female gymnasts. In the U.S. star-studded women gymnastic team, world all-around champion Shawn Johnson, coached by a former Chinese gymnastics star, stands out as a mighty component. At the world championships in 2005, the Chinese women's gymnastics team clinched their first team title. Yet at the 2007 world championships, the American women's team claimed their first ever world team title at world championships held outside of the United States. This has made the competition between the Chinese team and U.S. worth watching.

Shooting battle

In some shooting events, the American team might become China's strongest opponent. The Chinese shooting team clinched four gold medals during the 2004 Olympics, topping the gold medal tally for shooting, while the U.S. team pocketed only two gold medals. However, the gold medal in the 50m rifle three positions event won by Chinese Jia Zhanbo could have gone to Matt Emmons of the U.S. if he had not shot the wrong target at the last shot. This cross-fire error dropped Emmons to eighth place.

Possible dark horses

In some events where Chinese teams do not have the strongest gold medal candidates, Chinese athletes might challenge the domination of American athletes, or at least walk away with silver or bronze medals.

In the men's 200m butterfly, Chinese swimmer Wu Peng might be able to disturb American Michael Phelps' attempt to win eight Olympic gold medals. In the 2007 FINA World Championships, Phelps took gold medal by beating Wu with a remarkable distance in the swimming pool. In this match, Phelps shortened the world record he himself held by 1.71 seconds, which was an unbelievable feat for this event. Therefore, Chinese people's expectations on Wu are to shorten his gap with Phelps to as little as possible.

Chinese women tennis players have stormed the tennis courts around the world in recent years. In Athens, Sun Tiantian and Li Ting broke new ground, winning gold in the doubles event. Another Chinese pair Zheng Jie and Yan Zi won the country's first-ever Grand Slam title in the Australian Open and the Wimbledon Championships in 2006. Zheng made history again by ending fourth in the singles at Wimbledon this year, the best record for a Chinese player. Yet Serena and Venus Williams sisters, who joined hands to win both the singles title and doubles titles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, could repeat their achievements and upset the plan of Chinese players for a gold medal.

The Chinese women's football and softball teams will also challenge the U.S. team on its path for a gold medal. The U.S. women's softball team has monopolized the gold medal since the sport was introduced to the Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta. At the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese women's softball team set its goal for a medal. At the prime of the Chinese women's football team in the late 1990s, the biggest opponent was without doubt the American team. Chinese football players were defeated by the American in the final at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2007 Women's World Cup. Now both the Chinese team and the U.S. team have been caught up with by other powers. While the U.S. team remains an expected candidate for gold medals, the Chinese women's football team has a goal of entering the semi-final.

As for Chinese people's most anticipated gold medal in men's 110m hurdles, where Liu Xiang became the first Chinese man to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field in Athens, Liu's battle to defend his title will face the challenge of American hurdler Terrence Trammell, silver medal winner at Athens, and David Oliver, winner at Qatar Super Grand Prix in May. Their personal best records are very close to Liu Xiang's.

Whether China will lead the Olympic medal tally could ultimately depend on whether its athletes can make the best use of their home-field support and, of course, good luck.

(Source: Titan Sports)