With so much going on, Chinese fans could be forgiven for not paying much attention to the velodrome in west Beijing.
Guo Shuang could change all that this afternoon as the country imay see its first ever gold in cycling.
The 21-year-old from Inner Mongolia has been flawless coming into the Olympics. She eased past three rivals from traditional cycling superpowers to enter the semifinals in the women's sprint. Her victory over Natallia Tsylinskaya of Belarus yesterday made Guo the first Asian cyclist to enter the Olympic semifinals.
Guo Shuang |
"I am doing OK this time. I feel good," said Guo. "I try to do it simply - just get on the track and ride. I am not thinking about gold medals or making history really. I just focus on the track to beat my rivals one by one."
China's best showing in cycling at the Olympics was at the Athens Games in 2004 when Jiang Yonghua won a silver medal in the 500m time trial, an event that was axed from Beijing in favor of BMX. Despite having more than 300 million bicycles, Guo is the host country's only medal hopeful on the track, while the other track rider Li Yan finished 10th in the women's point race yesterday.
Zhang Liang, the first Chinese to compete in the men's road race on the first day of the Olympics didn't even finish the 248km competition.
But Guo believes the international cycling map is being changed. "We used to be outsiders in the cycling world even though China is called the 'kingdom of bicycles'. But now we are among the insiders, I am very proud of it," she said during an Olympic test event last year in Beijing.
Guo started cycling seriously at age 13. She was sent to the World Cycling Training Center in 2002 to learn from French coach Sebastien Dulcus, the best education an aspiring track star could hope for.
Guo signaled her progress with a podium finish at the 2006 World Championships and at the Doha Asian Games later that year, she scooped two golds.
Sensing more to come, the authorities hired Daniel Morelon - another Frenchman and a four-time Olympic champion in the 1960s and 1970s - and at the world championships last year he guided Guo to silver in the sprint and keirin. At the world championships in Manchester in March she placed fourth.
"I think Guo can win the gold medal, that's our goal," Morelon said. "I am sure she is one of the best in the world, so at the very least she has to win a medal in Beijing."