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China will become next sporting superpower
From a lone swimmer at Helsinki Olympics (1952) to second largest medals' haul at Athens in 2004, China has come a long way.
Perched in Tiananmen square in the centre of Beijing at the top of the steps leading to the Museum of China stands a giant rectangular digital clock.
Less than a month after the conclusion of the Athens Olympics in August the public timepiece started the countdown to the 2008 Beijing Games, the third edition of the world's most spectacular sporting extravaganza to be staged in Asia.
About three kilometre north of Tiananmen square, an unprepossessing building conceals a hive of relentless activity starting early and finishing late. The Shishahai Sports School, containing 550 pupils aged between five and 16, is one of around 3,000 spread throughout an immense country of 1.3 billion people containing one fifth of the world's population and now poised to become the world's next sporting superpower.
The 2004 Olympics, staged in the country which invented the ancient and revived the modern Games, were acclaimed as a stunning success for a myriad reasons. China had more to celebrate than most, finishing second only to the might of the United States in the medals table.
China are comparative newcomers to the Olympic movement. A lone sprinter travelled to the 1932 Los Angeles Games. A team from the mainland representing the new People's Republic of China arrived at the 1952 Helsinki Games five days before the closing ceremony, allowing time only for one swimmer to take part.
