Chinese young wrestlers still take time to get better

Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2007)

A top Chinese wrestling official said in Wuhan, central China on Thursday that the young wrestlers should get more strong mentally before achieving good results at home and international competitions.

 

Li Shan, deputy director of the Wrestling Department of the State Sports Administration of China, said that the country has some talents with great potential, but they always make some mistakes at the crucial moment.

 

"That's the biggest problem exposed in the just-ended wrestling competitions of the Chinese City Games," Li said.

 

Even some well-known young wrestlers failed to go further in the City Games, including newly-crowned world junior champion Li Songni.

 

Li Shan said that a mature athlete is first of all a "mentally mature" athlete.

 

"Wrestlers should not be disturbed by anything before a match so that they can concentrate all their energy on the match and perform their best," he said.

 

Wrestlers participating in the City Games, who were all under 20, always had ups and downs during their competitions. "They could win one match by a big margin, and can also lose another surprisingly."

 

China has never won a gold medal from the men's wrestling in the Olympic Games. After women's event became a medal event in the 2004 Olympics, their chance came.

 

Wang Xu won the first ever Olympic wrestling gold medal for China in Athens from the women's 72kg class.

 

Wang's success also put lots of pressure on the country's wrestling coaches and athletes. They have set their sights well beyond the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. But problems are still there.

 

Weight problems always caused wrestlers lots of trouble. Lei Jingling, who won the women's 48kg silver at the world junior championships, lost to little-known Nanjing wrestler Cao Jing in the first round. Her coach imputed her failure to her weight loss in the past two months.

 

"Lei is too thin. She only weighs 44kg but has to compete in the 48kg class, the lowest level of women's wrestling," said Lei's coach Long Bu. "It was too much for her to play against an opponent almost 4kg heavier."

 

"As a national team member, she was a potential champion. If she wants to get better results, her weight must get close to 48kg, " said Long.

 

"But it is really very difficult for young wrestlers to control their weight," he said.

 

Li Shan said most of Chinese young wrestlers began to learn wrestling too late.

 

"They usually started their career at the age of 12 or even older, which means they had missed the best time to learn. It will take time for them to achieve good and steady results," the official said.