It began with a scandal in the sprints and ended with an ambush in the marathon but it was sheer delight in between In Athens, China celebrated its best-ever Olympic medal haul, finishing the Games in second place behind the might of the United States. But with home backing in Beijing, there is every chance the People's Republic will be top of the pile in 2008 when it hosts the Summer Games. China is fast becoming the nation everyone has to fear. Traditionally strong in events like badminton, diving, shooting and table tennis, the Chinese are now getting golds elsewhere. In Greece, 110m hurdler Xiang Liu became the first Chinese male to win a track gold while tennis players Ting Li and Tian Tian Sun stormed to a shock win in the women's doubles. There were also golds for Xujuan Luo in the women's 100m breaststroke and canoeists Guanliang Meng and Wenjun Yang in the men's C2 500m. From five gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze in 1988, China jumped to 32 gold, 17 silver and 14 bronze in 2004. But if the Chinese are proving speedy on the track and in the pool, take a look at the rate at which they are preparing for 2008. They are so far ahead of schedule that International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge took the unprecedented step of urging organisers to slow down construction work in Beijing. His fear was that it would prove too costly to maintain the stadiums if they were completed 20 months in advance of the Games. Rogge was also worried that the venues would stand idle for long periods. But at least Beijing is unlikely to be dogged by the same problems that beset Athens, when there were genuine concerns the Greek capital would not be ready to host the 28th Olympiad. The major problem the Chinese government will have to face over the next four years is the endless questioning and examination of their human rights record. But Chen Ping, a member of Beijing's Media and Communications Department, insists the country is prepared for the intense media spotlight. "I think we are ready and we want international journalists to come to Beijing to see what life is like," he told the BBC. "We want them to speak to people so they can see for themselves how excited everyone is." Beijing was selected as the host city for the Games on 13 July, 2001. Since then, the Beijing Organising Committee -- or Bocog for short -- has been working overtime. New roads and subways have and are being built, while a third terminal is currently under construction at the Beijing Capital International Airport. Special "villages" will also be erected for the athletes and media, and organisers have already ensured there will be enough hotel rooms for the thousands of visitors. As for the venues, a total of 35 will be used, of which 30 will be situated in the city. The sailing competition will take place in the port of Qingdao while Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang and Qinghuangdao will host the football preliminaries. Of the 30 venues in Beijing, 15 will be new, 11 already exist while the remaining four will be temporary. And there should be enough people to fill them, unlike in Athens, where several sports failed to attract capacity crowds. Many Athenians left when the Olympic circus rolled into town, but Ping is confident the same thing will not happen in 2008. The Games take place between 8 and 24 August and Ping said: "The people of Beijing are very enthusiastic. They know life will be harder because of all the guests but they will not be leaving." Bocog hopes everything will be ready by the end of 2007, giving them enough time to host test events at most of the venues and iron out any infrastructure problems. The Games could be the most elaborate, best organised and most competitive Games ever. They could also be the toughest yet for the United States. China is roaring ahead with a single goal: to destroy all competition in 2008. The United States, the medals winner in Athens, is enemy No. 1. The countdown to China began Sunday when Beijing's mayor took possession of the Olympic flag during an eight-minute pageant at the Athens closing ceremony, tying ancient Olympia to the Great Wall of China. Directing was Zhang Yimou, famous for his visually lush movies including "Raise the Red Lantern" and the Oscar- nominated "Hero". China wants to show that it is going all out, and this is a country that knows how to go all out. After all, it built the Great Wall. It recently re-modeled its largest cities, sacrificing entire neighborhoods for six-lane avenues and skyscrapers. In 1958, it implemented a misguided industrialisation plan with such fervour that 40 million people starved to death. Now, after a two-decade shift from closed socialist fiefdom toward global economic powerhouse, China plans to use the Olympics to demonstrate that the world's most populous nation is a surging force to be reckoned with -- and not only in sports. "The Games will be a kind of vehicle to showcase China opening up," said Wang Wei, secretary-general of the organising committee. "China is the biggest developing country, the fastest growing economy, and the Olympics enjoy the greatest popular support in China. "This is the biggest coming out party in history." To be a success, China believes, everything will have to be perfect. A massive propaganda machine is spreading awareness of sports and Olympic traditions among China's 1.3 billion people. The government is falling over itself to prepare infrastructure -- even changing laws to please IOC officials. "If you need a million men to finish a stadium, you make a phone call and they're there overnight," said Bud Greenspan, the Olympic documentary filmmaker, who has worked closely with Chinese organisers. The Chinese people are no less passionate about the Games than their government. When the Olympic torch came through China in June on its way to Greece, Wang said, more than one million people turned out to see it pass. "The celebration, the atmosphere was great," he said. "Just imagine when the Beijing opening ceremony takes place. It's going to be fantastic." "The Chinese buildup is the most massive in sports history," Ping said. "They may be so good that they could put the medals race out of sight." China's goal in 2008 is to enter athletes in every sport -- athletes who can win. "They're going to swamp everybody," Greenspan said with a chuckle. He Huixian, a vice chairman of the Chinese Olympic Committee, said his nation has stepped up training for young people in sports like swimming and track and field -- competitions in which many medals are awarded but in which China has traditionally fielded weak teams. Those efforts have already begun to pay off: look no further than China's two gold medals in track and field last week. Other sports powers -- the United States, Russia, Germany and Australia -- also are targeting resources to boost athlete training, but China's push is more efficient because the government funds and exerts strong control over sports. Children are tested at a young age to determine if their bodies will develop appropriately for a certain sport then are placed into government- funded sports schools that have demanding training schedules but offer major perks for the children's families. The head of the Russian Olympic delegation observed that the Chinese system is really the old Soviet system, and "they just took it from us." China's delegation to Athens even sacrificed some older athletes in favour of less qualified younger ones so they could gain Olympic experience that will help them triumph in 2008. "If the home team doesn't perform well, you don't have a good atmosphere in the Games," Wang said. Asked whether that meant China would steamroller over the competition, Wang gave a knowing smile and a humble response. "No need to be frightened," he said.
