With only 16 days left before the start of the Beijing Olympics, China's gymnastics team has started its last stage of preparations. Chinese gymnasts have won 13 gold medals since China began taking part in the Olympics, ten percent of the country's total gold medal tally.

With only 16 days left before the start of the Beijing Olympics, China's gymnastics team has started its last stage of preparations.(CCTV.com)

Yang Wei and Li Xiaopeng are veteran competitors.

27-year-old Sydney Olympics champion, Li Xiaopeng, recently made a come back after recovering from long-term injuries. He won gold on the parallel bars at the 2008 World Cup in Germany.

Yang Wei has twice been named men's individual all-round winner at two World Championships and has remained in peak condition.

But they know they cannot afford to be careless.

Yang Wei said, "Gymnastics is an uncertain sport. You can't give one hundred percent guarantee in training, let alone in competition. If you practice ten sets and seven or eight of them are high quality, you will be more confident during the Games. I'm feeling better and better and I will be ready to do my best at the Games."

(CCTV July 23, 2008)