|
Star lifter Zhang puts 2008 above all else
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-07-24 17:19
BEIJING - Zhang Guozheng is looking enviously at a coach playing with his toddler son, but when asked why he doesn't father a child, the 32-year-old Olympic weightlifting champion says it's not the time.
"I love children and I dream to be a father," said Zhang. "But I have to delay the baby plan because I am busy preparing for the Beijing Olympics.
"To tell you the truth, I never stop dreaming to have my own child."
The handsome lifter married a police officer in 2001 and they had planned to have a baby after he won the gold medal in the Athens Olympics in 2004.
"I had promised my wife to have a normal life like many others', to have a kid, to have barbecue with the family on weekends. But when I decided to compete in the Beijing Olympics, which is so alluring to Chinese athletes, I have to put off family life again, " said Zhang.
"I would like to have a good, long rest after the Beijing Olympics. I think I will be a father at 36 or 37."
Veteran Zhang showed his young teammates there was fire burning in the old lifter as he overcame another Olympic champion Shi Zhiyong with a total of 336kg to take the 69kg division gold medal last year's Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
As the oldest in the Chinese weightlifting team, Zhang is still tipped as the Olympic gold hopeful.
Zhang's teammate Shi, who was upgraded from 62kg to 69kg class, is seen as one of Zhang's closest rivals in the Beijing Games.
"Shi is a friend. I won't have a grudge if he wins in Beijing, as long as this gold medal belongs to our team and our country," Zhang said.
Zhang has been absent from the annual world weightlifting championships since 2004, but he announces he will come back to this year's competition in Thailand.
"Yes, I will definitely go to the world championships and win the gold medal there," he said.
"All best lifters will go to the last world championships before the Beijing Olympics. It's the time to show my dominance in the men's 69kg class."
Except weightlifting, Zhang spends a lot of time on writing his Web journal, which has received millions of visits since he started blogging in January.
"Writing is one of my hobbies and also a way to express my feelings. It is a wonderful channel to communicate with my supporters," he said.
|
