BEIJING, Feb 16 (AP) -- As speed skater Wang Meng clinched China's first gold in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, her family watched joyfully at home in Qitaihe, a coal mining town in China's snowy northeast.

Wang, 20, began skating at age 9 and was recruited to join a skate training camp, said her mother, Zhang Xiaoxia.

Because of her training schedule, Zhang rarely sees her daughter, whom she calls "old boy," a local nickname for girls.

"Since she was 9 years old, she has only spent one Spring Festival holiday at home because she was always living in the training base," Zhang said by phone from Qitaihe, about 1,100 kilometers (700 miles) northeast of Beijing.

Wang's home province of Heilongjiang, on the Russian border, is known for producing skating stars.

Zhang said she, her husband and 30 other relatives crowded around their television Wednesday night, eating a traditional Chinese snack of watermelon seeds and watching Wang's race live from Turin.

This is Wang's first Olympics. She won all four World Cup races in the 500 meters this season.

"We thought she might get a gold medal because we saw how well she did at the World Cup in 2005 and felt like her big chance was coming to win at Turin," Zhang said.

Relatives screamed and her mother broke down in tears as they watched Wang win the 500-meter short track final, then take a victory lap wrapped in the Chinese flag.

Then they ventured outside into the -13 degree centigrade (9 degree Fahrenheit) cold to set off firecrackers in celebration.

Early Thursday, Wang called her mother.

"Did you see it?" she asked, according to her mother. "Were you excited or not?"

Zhang said she was so excited she hadn't slept all night.