Ye out to trample all foes

Trampoline star Ye Shuai became another Olympic gold-medal prospect as he won back-to-back titles from the World Championships and the Good Luck Beijing International Invitational Tournament recently.

The 20-year-old from Fujian, who used to train in gymnastics and diving before moving over to the trampoline at the age of 11, became China's first ever world champion in the sport with a gold medal at the men's individual event from the Quebec World Championships last month.

Que Zhicheng set China's previous best by finishing fourth at the 2005 World Championships in the Netherlands.

In the Good Luck tournament that ended Monday, an Olympic test event for the Beijing Games that attracted the world's top 10 gymnasts, Ye continued his good form and claimed the title with 40.40 points.

All of a sudden, the successive titles made Ye a gold-medal favorite for the Beijing Games. However, the modest athlete who has been waiting in the wings for a long time due to the low popularity of the sport is totally unprepared for all the attention.

"I was just doing a normal routine here," Ye said. "Competing at the Olympic venue gave me an authentic taste of the Beijing Games next year but I think it's too early to think about the gold medal."

But the ambitious Chinese coach said the Beijing Games would be the right time for the fast-improving Chinese to make a breakthrough.

"China's men's team is currently in the leading position in the world," said Chen Qilin, coach of the men's team. "We will try to produce the best outcome in Beijing."

Other coaches should envy Chen because he has not only one top athlete in the world, but five.

Alongside Ye, the team also features Dong Dong, who won silver behind Ye at the Quebec Worlds, veteran Que, World Cup series winner Lu Chunlong, and new star Tu Xiao.

Given the relatively deep field, it is little surprise that China easily won the men's team title in Quebec.

However, when it comes to the Olympics, each nation is only allowed to send two male and two female athletes.

Ye, who assumes an unusual height and grace in the air, made himself the hottest candidate for the 2008 team with his recent success.

He says he needs to polish every detail in his routine and stay mistake-free. He made a major error in the qualification round at the Good Luck tournament and squeezed into the final as the last-placed qualifier.

"The qualification round is the top priority," Ye said. "I need to work on a standard routine in the qualification round and then think about the final."