The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
(DALIAN, August 3) -- James Li, 2007 USA Track & Field (USATF) Nike Coach of the Year, has been selected the national team leader for USATF at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In his interview with reporters from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games official website, he talked about USATF preparations for the Beijing Games.
Li arrived in China two weeks ago to prepare for the 2008 USATF training camp at Dalian University. "I like it here very much. Dalian has very good sports culture and we received lots of support from the Dalian government. Besides, the air quality is high in Dalian. The temperatures here are a little bit cooler than Beijing, so this is an ideal transition for the athletes to prepare themselves for Beijing."
Hundreds of security guards have been stationed around Dalian University for this training camp. "This promises to be a very safe place for training before the upcoming event," Li added.
Less than 20 athletes took part in the training on the first day of camp. Li explained that more and more athletes will be arriving in Dalian in the next few days, with most athletes arriving on August 6 or 7. "Our athletes pick arrival dates by themselves. Usually, it depends on how they can adapt themselves to the new environment and the dates of the competition," Li said.
At the camp, athletes train from 9-12 in the morning and 5-8 in the evening. According to Li, athletes are trained by their individual coaches. "They decide their training content according to their physical conditions. We don't have the same training class for all the athletes."
At the 2007 World Championships, Americans took 14 golds. "If we can keep this record up at the Olympics this year, I will be very satisfied. I'm very confident in the sprint and shot put events, and hopefully we can go further in the long distance races," Li told reporters.
