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One sportsman believes he can make history in 2008 by becoming the first Chinese men's triathlete to compete in the Olympic Games.

Jiang Zhihang, champion of the National Games last year, has his sights set on qualification.

"I am not ready to win a gold medal like those from other strong sports," said the 20-year-old Jiang. "But I am aiming for another record - to be the first ever Chinese boy to play in the Games, that's the biggest thing in my life."

Despite a strong second-place finish on the overall medal standings in Athens, behind the United States, China is a rookie in the sport of triathlon, which made its Olympic debut in Sydney Games just six years ago.

Only two Chinese women have had the chances to complete in the Olympics when Wang Hongni and Xing Lin qualified for the Athens Games in 2004. Wang settled for a 40th place while Xing failed to finish the race because of bicycle problems.

"We are freshmen in this field," said Qi Jun, vice-director of Chinese Triathlon Association (CTA). "We are searching for a decent way to develop Chinese athletes. We don't have any advantage over overseas rivals in three sports - long-distance swimming, cycling and running.

"For sure, winning a medal at the top events is out of reach for us, but I hope we can make our own spots in the world."

Under the Beijing Games qualification system, which started in May, the top 80 athletes on the men's and women's rankings will automatically qualify for the 2008 Olympics. The points come from the International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Cup series, which takes place in 16 cities around the world every year.

Jiang enjoyed a jump in his rankings in his first World Cup year to No 110 from outside 200. He has competed in three World Cup series so far in 2006.

A former swimmer in China's Military Sports Team, Jiang finished in No 23 in his first World Cup trip in Japan.

At the China Stop that concluded on Sunday, he was 64th among 85 athletes with a time of 2:05:26, 13 minutes behind the champion Frederic Belaubre of France.

The recent results have boosted Jiang's confidence and he believed the Olympic dream is on the track.

"I feel I am moving to the Games step by step," he said. "Through those international tournaments, I've learned a lot from top athletes - the way they compete and their experience during the race.

"The gap is clear, but I am coming closer this year."

Like in other Chinese sports this year, the country's women athletes are much stronger than men. Wang and Xing finished Sunday's competition at No 20 and No 32 each. They also managed to rank around 30 in the world over the past two years.

"It is just a matter of time to catch up with elite athletes at top tournaments," said Wang.

Despite the sport's long tradition in the world, China set up its first professional triathlon team in the army in 1994 when it was only seen as a military sport.

It was not until 2000 when China set up a national triathlon team and most of its new recruits came from swimming teams.

According to Qi, there were about 200 registered triathletes in CTA, a sharp contrast to European countries, where triathlon is a very popular sport. France boasts 20,000 triathletes while Spain has about 15,000 competitors.

"We started it late but develop very fast," said Qi. "The Beijing Olympics will test how much we have improved in six years."

(China Daily September 26, 2006)