(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-12-27 09:49

China's reigning 10,000m Olympic champion Xing Huina will fly to the US to get training under the famed China-born coach James Li, the USA Track and Field Coach of the Year, in a bid to get back on track before August's Olympic Games.

Xing Huina

Xing, who surprised the world by grabbing the Athens Olympic 10,000m gold in 2004, has been struggling with a knee injury and a lack of systematic training after her coach Wang Dexian was banned from coaching for life in 2005.

Wang suffered the suspension after another star long-distance student of his, Sun Yingjie, tested positive. Wang's once-famous training camp has also been disbanded.

"After I left Wang, I have been training alone. Without systematic trainings and teammates around, it's impossible to keep up a high-level performance," said Xing, whose slumping form also cost her a spot in this year's Osaka World Championships.

"There is not much time left for me. I hope I will get back to my best form under Li in the US."

Li, who was born in Chengdu and naturalized as a US citizen in 1998, was named the USA Track and Field Coach of the Year after producing world 1,500m and 5,000m champion Bernard Lagat.

Lagat became the first man to win a 1,500m and 5,000m world championship double this year at Osaka, claiming the US's first-ever 5,000m podium finish at the Worlds under Li's guidance.

Head coach of China track and filed team Feng Shuyong also believes the training opportunities in the US will be of great help to Xing's rehabilitation.

"She is now physically fit and her form is getting better day by day. So it's the right time for us to send her there," Feng said. "Li is a great coach. The weather conditions are also very comfortable right now. And besides, training with the high-level teammates will also be helpful."

Feng said Xing should have learned lessons from her first session with Li early last year but she was not in the right mindset.

"She was too anxious to prove herself and did not control her training rhythm well last year. So she got injured soon after arriving in the US and did not benefit a lot during the training session."

Xing and 110m hurdles world champion Liu Xiang won China the only two golds in the track and field at the Athens Games. They remain two of the best athletics medal hopefuls for 2008.

"We have emerging youngsters in 5,000m and 10,000m. But they lack international experience and are not consistent. If Xing could reach the Olympic standard, we will be more comprehensively competitive in Beijing."

But Xing remained low-key about her prospects, saying she is not yet qualified to think about the Olympics.

"I dare not think about my Olympic chances. The most important thing for me is to start high-quality training as soon as possible and be competitive again in the following Olympic qualifying competitions."