The secret to gold medals

(BEIJING, August 19) -- The eight gold medals earned by the Chinese weightlifting team represent the hard work of an entire nation. Ma Wenhui, head coach of the Chinese female weightlifting team, coined this effort as the "whole nation system" during Tuesday's press conference at Beijing's Main Press Center (MPC).

"Very few countries would attach this much importance to sports as China does," said Ma.

Ma said the efforts made to discover weightlifting talents were enormous during the years when he was serving as the director of Shandong Sports Bureau. A three-level selection system -- from counties to cities to provinces--helps to uncover talents from every corner. The potential athletes found were then put into schools concentrating on sports and later began training with assistance from the national team.

In Ma's visits to various countries in the world, he has yet to discover any nation that would concentrate this much energy in cultivating athletes and the development of sports.