The fact that legendary Chinese gymnast Li Ning was chosen to light the main cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Games may have been a sign that China's men's gymnastics team would do well this year.
Indeed it was. China's men's team reclaimed the gold it won at Sydney 2000 - and lost four years ago in Athens - in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
"When Li lit the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony last Friday, I felt very proud of him, since he is my former teammate," said Huang Yubin, head coach of the team. "It's a great honor for China's gymnasts and it encouraged us a lot."
Members of the Chinese team celebrate following their victory in the men's team final of the artistic gymnastics event at the National Indoor Stadium during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 12, 2008. China won the men's gymnastics team Olympic gold, snuffing out challenges from defending champions Japan and the United States to spark wild celebrations among the cheering home crowd. [Agencies] |
The Chinese won their first-ever men's team Olympic gold in Sydney but lost it to Japan in Athens. They managed only one gold medal in 2004, which was considered a big failure for the traditional gymnastics powerhouse.
"We felt very sad and depressed when we failed to win a medal four years ago," said a teary-eyed Yang Wei, who is competing in his third Olympic Games. "This triumph is for the glory of the whole team and the tears come naturally. We feel all our efforts have been rewarded."
In the end, it was hardly even close. The Chinese had things all but wrapped up by the fourth round, as they held on to their comfortable 7.25-point lead to defeat defending champion Japan.
Yang was solid on every apparatus, while his five teammates helped out by winning each of their best events: Xiao Qin on pommel horse, Chen Yibing on rings, Li Xiaopeng on vault, Huang Xu on parallel bars and Zou Kai on horizontal bar.
"Their performances were excellent and they are competing at home so they had a great fighting spirit," said Japan's Koki Sakamoto.
"We tried out our best but we cannot catch up to them," Japan coach Koji Gushiken admitted.
Coach Huang, who had joked earlier that if his team didn't win then he would jump off a building, was relieved by the decisive victory.
"I should thank my fellow gymnasts for not allowing me to jump," he said with a smile after the final.
The coach also acknowledged the difficult journey the team had endured to win the gold.
"After the 2004 Olympics, Yang was thinking of retiring and both Huang and Li were in awful form," the coach recalled.
"When I came back to lead the team in 2006, I had to stay with them everyday to help them rebuild their confidence. Luckily, none of the team members gave up and we united together to get into our best form before the Beijing Games."