As the head of an all-star cast that has inherited and amassed a total of 20 Olympic gold medals and over 100 world titles , Zhou Jihong, head coach of China's national diving team, could be forgiven for coming across as arrogant.
But insecure? Surely not.
Zhou Jihong |
"We have nothing," she said after a national Olympic qualifying event in Jinan, Shandong Province, last week.
"We should not assume the golds are already in our pockets because we are traditionally strong at diving.
"I want my divers to realize that they need to start from zero every time they get on the platform and give it their best shot. We're adopting a more modest approach for the Games."
China is the favorite to sweep all eight gold medals at the Beijing Games after winning nine of 10 on offer at last year's World Championships.
But Zhou has expressed concern that an attitude of complacency could sink the team's chances -- especially at the Olympics, where big upsets are par for the course.
"Getting a team of this quality to lock all of its past glory in a cupboard and forget about it is by no means easy," she said.
Zhou's fears grew after she witnessed one of her top female springboard divers, Wu Mingxia, fail to earn a single point on one of her dives in a preliminary round at the Jinan tournament.
Wu, the synchronized springboard gold medalist and individual bronze-medal winner at the 2004 Athens Games, fell into the water without executing her dive. She scored a zero and failed to advance to the next round.
Minutes later, Zhao Qin made a similar mistake and had to settle for a meager 12.4.
"Anything can happen," Zhou sighed. "Your mistakes can basically put medals on a plate for your rivals."
Like what happened to diver Wang Kenan in Athens. Wang fell into the water in his last dive of the men's synchronized springboard final, a mishap that cost China the gold by surrendering its huge lead.
"The athletes will be severely tested at the Olympics because they always have high expectations. Knowing how to deal with all the pressure is crucial," Zhou said.
And she would know.
As a diver, she won a gold medal on the platform at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, and she has been at the helm of Chinese diving since Sydney 2000.
At the Sydney Games, China lost the first three golds on offer despite going in as the favorite to sweep all eight. Only after Xiong Ni scored a fortune-reversing victory on the men's springboard was China able to get back on track and capture the remaining five.
In Athens, China suffered from similar misfortune, losing two golds on the women's platform and men's synchronized springboard, both areas where it has traditionally dominated.
"Technically they are always the world's best. But mentally, they need to be stronger," Zhou said of her world-class divers.
Wu can still fight for an Olympic ticket as the poor show in Jinan might end up going unnoticed due to a rule that lets each diver select their three best results from five qualifiers.
"You need to be prepared for everything, even if you are the best diver in the world," Zhou said.
The Chinese team hired psychologists and yoga teachers to help its divers deal with the mounting pressure.
