Chinese gold medallist Liu Xiang earned his place in the history books by winning the 110m hurdles in Athens, the first Asian to scoop a world crown in short-distance running.

But it was not just natural ability that won the victory. Liu and his team of coaches have been using advanced monitoring and training techniques to ensure the athlete could outpace his European and American rivals in a sport they have long dominated.

In 2001, a scientific research group formed by experts at the China Institute of Sport Science (CISS) and other research bodies, was set up specifically for the national track and field team.

It offered science and technology training to Chinese athletes, and Liu was one of the guinea pigs.

"We recorded almost all the races Liu has run since 2001," said Li Ting, one of the members of the group.

"We compared Liu's technique data -- like the time he takes to go over each hurdle -- with the world's best runners, analyzed the data and gave the results to Liu and his coach to do whatever they needed to adjust their training plan."

Three cameras were simultaneously used to film Liu in training since the middle of July, and coaches have been studying the footage and discussing tactics.

"Our scientific service was warmly welcomed by Liu and the coach, who said it was a good way to improve training," said Li.

Even the three qualifying races were recorded, analyzed and sent to Liu and his coach.

"We sent the results by email and short message after each heat," said Li. "The results have given much more confidence to him and his coach Sun Haiping."

Liu was not the only athlete under scrutiny.

Javelin, discus and pole vault athletes all came under similar supervision.

Pre-Games help

"China's research into sports science goes back to the 1960's," said Wang Qing, assistant head of the CISS. "Track and field events such as sprinting and the high jump were among the first events that engaged science to help in their training."

The increased use led to more research groups to look at sports teams in the 1980's. The groups were set up for each Olympics.

In the 2001-04 Olympic period, some groups were set up to look at other sports teams, in swimming, weightlifting, wrestling, diving, gymnastics, table tennis, badminton, volleyball, basketball, trampoline, sailing, and modern pentathlon.

Statistics were collected, data analyzed, athletes' physical capabilities evaluated and even mental health assessed. Nutrition was looked at, and medical treatment, along with suggestions for training.

Databases have now been set up on each athlete to make up exhaustive training plans.

More than 5,000 different pieces of data have been collected and 433 reports made about the team, such as diving moves among the synchronized events, said Zhang Zhongqiu, a member of the diving team scientific research group.

"Thanks to our recorded images, Guo Jingjing was able to correct some unnecessary moves and went on to win the gold in the women's synchronized 3m springboard with her partner Wu Minxia," said Zhang.

For table tennis medal hopeful Zhang Yining, who later won the women's singles and doubles gold medals at Athens, it was sleep she needed. The research group found a way to improve her sleep quality.

Weight gain is another problem.

"With our supervision and analysis, we have found that the traditional way of controlling weight by eating limited food was not scientific, and could affect performance," said Wang Xiangdong, member of the gymnastics research group. "We have reported it to the gymnastics team and will help them to find new ways to diet."

New training facilities also had to be looked at, particularly in trampoline and women's wrestling.

Trampoline was introduced to the Olympics this year and the research team had no facilities for training. They came up with software to help them get it right.

"We have been with the young team since 2002, and have developed a really practical training system," said Li Dongjian, member of the trampoline research team. "We will continue to perfect the system to help the development of trampoline in the world."

At the Athens Games, China's Huang Shanshan won the bronze medal in the women's trampoline.

A lack of special facilities for power training in events like weightlifting and wrestling is an old problem. To deal with it, the scientific research group in this field has developed various new equipments.

"Scientific research has contributed a lot to our training," said Ma Wenguang, director of the Weightlifting and Combat Sports Administrative Centre. "The nine gold medals we won in weightlifting, wrestling, judo and taekwondo should be thankful to all the researchers. We hope to get more help for the next Olympic period."

In some team events, scientific research has also helped in player selection.

For the women's volleyball team, the research team collected and analyzed various data and ended up recommending Zhang Na from Tianjin to head coach Chen Zhonghe.

"We compared Zhang's technique data to the other two players we picked up from the national league," said Dong Tianshu, member of the volleyball group. "After looking through and analyzing nearly 50,000 bits of data, we recommended Zhang to the coach."

After joining the national team, 24-year-old Zhang won the best libero title in the 2003 World Cup, which China won, and ranked second in the digger standing in Athens, which the Chinese women won for the first time in 20 years.

As well as the physical help, a psychiatric help group was set up in the national sailing team.

"We tried to expand their field of vision, build up their confidence and adjust their emotions through lectures, strict training and game playing," said group member Ding Xueqin. "Before the competition began in the Games, Yin Jian told me she was in her best form and confident of winning a medal."

In the later competitions, Yin won the silver medal in the women's Mistral category, which proved to be China's breakthrough in sailing.

Further help planned

Directed by the Science and Education Department of China's State General Administration of Sports, the CISS is now planning on setting up more research groups into sports teams to offer scientific services for coaches and athletes.

"We invested 48 million yuan (US$5.81 million) in scientific research during the Athens Olympic period, which was nearly four times as much as in the period before," said Shi Kangcheng, director of the Science and Education Department.

"We still have to sum up our experiences and talk more about the problems we are having, such as the standards of physical evaluation, the development of more special training facilities, and sports medicine and stamina training."

(China Daily October 6, 2004)