Yang had a reason not to message back, "She is no longer the naughty girl clamoring to break up because of an unreturned text message," Yang said. "As soul mates, we can read each other's minds without uttering a word."

This connection can be traced back to the pommel horse final at the Doha Asian Games in 2006. The gold medal there was thought to be in the bag for China, as Yang Wei and his teammate Xiao Qin gave the team double insurance. But beyond everyone's expectation, Xiao fell from the horse, shifting the heavy burden to Yang. At that moment, thousands of eyes clung to him. Unfortunately, a terrible chain of mistakes occurred and Yang followed in Xiao's footsteps, failing to perform well on the horse. Amid the nightmare, he inadvertently made eye contact with Yang Yun, sitting in the stands. Much to his surprise, she burst into laughter like a child enjoying a practical joke. He ended up laughing too, sweeping all the shadows away. According to Yang Yun afterwards, she was just attempting to pull him through for the later rings competition. Nevertheless, her magic proved empowering, as he gained the first place at the rings.

Yang said the rings are his favorite among all gymnastics events. "I spent a lot of time practicing the rings. However, the judges often give me second place. They seem to dislike me," he joked.

The gymnastics power couple was often separated because of the long hours of closed-door training. One day at the end of June last year, Yang Yun was asked to attend a news conference at a bar at the end of the day. But upon arrival, she found herself trapped. It turned out to be an engagement celebration. Yang Wei put the ring on her finger and bred romance with several well-practiced love songs.

"Whatever the results, I will definitely marry her after the Beijing Olympic Games," Yang said. "Actually, I've long been yearning for that day, but I could find no time for it before."

Yang pins great hopes on the 2008 Olympic Games: "It's a new starting point for me. I will just be myself and all the problems will be gone."

Copyright Protection Plan for Olympic Musical Works Published BOCOG and the Music Copyright Society of China (MCSC) held a press conference on November 8. They exchanged documents and revealed a plan on the protection of the copyrights of music used in the Beijing Olympics next year. The copyright protection plan refers to musical works used during the opening and closing ceremonies, during cultural activities, at sporting venues, and throughout the medal presentation ceremonies and matches. It is estimated that BOCOG will use around 10,000 musical works, among which the music selected by BOCOG and gathered through public channels will receive more attention. According to the protection plan, BOCOG will pay for the use of the musical works if the copyright is already held. At the same time, as the holder of the copyright of Olympic songs, BOCOG grants MCSC authorities the right to deal with the copyright business of Olympic songs in order to make sure that people use the music legally. The copyright protection of musical works used at the Olympics is just one part of the larger intellectual property rights protection agenda at the Olympic Games. Further protected works also include Olympic slogans, mottoes, mascots and other symbols. Number of Candidates for Chinese Olympic Team Sets New Record Cui Dalin, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Sport of China (GASC), told reporters on November 9 that up to 570 members will comprise the Chinese team for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. This number, as well as the number of events China will participate in, will reach record levels in the history of China's involvement in the Olympics. "Preparation for the Olympic games has entered a crucial period," Cui said. All important competitive events have basically come to an end and the candidates are now in their final winter training period before the Olympics. Currently, 1,300 candidates for 55 teams are training throughout the country. Of these, 514 candidates for 26 major events, and 211 for smaller events, have qualified for the competition. Because China surpassed Russia and ranked second in total gold medals at Athens, the media have been speculating that China will improve on this at the 2008 Olympics. Cui said that it will not be very easy for Chinese candidates to get to a higher level. "It is very, very difficult to surpass the United States and Russia."