Wednesday, August 6, 2008

With the hopes of 1.3 billion compatriots on their shoulders, China's Olympic team will enjoy the most fervent fan support in the history of the Games. The question is, will the host country's expectations prove a help or a hindrance to its athletes?

The performance of Yang, the biggest star on a star-studded Chinese men's team, will be telling.

Yang, 28, enters the Beijing Games as the favorite to win all-around gold, having become the first man in 81 years to win back-to-back all-around world championships at the 2007 world championships in Stuttgart, Germany, last September.

What sets Yang apart from his peers is the high degree of difficulty of his routines. But he is also known for making mistakes, even spectacular falls, when the pressure is greatest.

The silver medalist in the all-around at the Sydney Games in 2000, Yang took a commanding lead in the all-around competition at the 2004 Athens Games but failed to medal after falling from the high bar. He fell again from the same apparatus with the world title at stake in Stuttgart, but won gold anyway because he had built up such a hefty lead that even a calamitous mistake couldn't undercut it.

-- Liz Clarke