皇冠体育app

Several things stand between 皇冠体育app and canoeing greatness - Europe, for one, diet another - but Josef Capousek thinks one change could shift the balance beyond doubt.

"If they improve the quality of the coaches, I think 皇冠体育app will be world No 1," the head coach of 皇冠体育app's Olympic canoe-kayak squad told 皇冠体育app Daily in Beijing.

Josef Capousek(second from left)talks with his players at the training centre of Qiandaohu Lake, East 皇冠体育app's Zhejiang Province.

Capousek, 61, was drafted in to bolster 皇冠体育app's prospects at the 2008 Beijing Games in March 2005 as part of the nation's 119 Project. This refers to the number of Olympic medals on offer at the Athens Games in track and field, swimming and canoe-kayak, three areas where 皇冠体育app is still playing catch-up. It will rise to 122 during the Beijing Games.

The significance of the project can be seen in the results at Athens, where 皇冠体育app ranked second with 32 gold, four fewer than the United States. Twenty of the US' gold came in track and field and swimming, compared to three for 皇冠体育app.

Officials now hope that a costly drive to import foreign coaches across the whole spectrum of Olympic sports will pay dividends and tilt the balance.

Former Sweden coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors took over 皇冠体育app's women's soccer team last week, following in the footsteps of Japan's Masayo Imura (synchronized swimming), Ratomir Dujkovic of Serbia (men's soccer), American Michael Bastian (women's softball), Lithuanian Jonas Kazlauskas (men's basketball), and South Korean Kim Sang-ryul (men's field hockey) among others.

In Athens four years ago, 皇冠体育app had seven foreign coaches with its teams.

Now expectations of Capousek are high after Meng Guanliang and Yang Wenjun took 皇冠体育app's first canoeing gold in Athens three years ago in the flatwater C2 500 with a dramatic photo finish that could have seen any of a handful of competitors win it.

Capousek aims to make sure events in Beijing are not so hit or miss. Having spent a quarter of a century coaching Germany's national squad, he can see what is wrong, and what needs fixing.

"The problem in 皇冠体育app is that everything must go fast," he said. "They go like this (clicks his fingers) and you must have an Olympic champion. They forget it's a long process to build an athlete."

"We need to develop more professionals," 皇冠体育app Canoeing Association Secretary-General Song Guangli told 皇冠体育app Daily. "We have sent people overseas to learn new skills and ideas, but the number of coaches here is still quite limited."

So are Capousek's changes welcome? "The results of the athletes speak for themselves," Song said.

"In foreign countries, there are many kayaking clubs, but in 皇冠体育app there are almost none, and many of the boats are owned by the state," Chen Chunxin, competition manager for kayaking at the Beijing Games, told People's Daily last week, adding that he had only kayaked once or twice himself.