National team's Austrian expert says teenage talents are rising to challenge

Ski jumping coach Heinz Kuttin says China can dare to dream of Olympic glory off the ramp at Beijing 2022.

A 10th-place finish for 16-year-old Zhou Fangyu in the women's individual event at the Winter Youth Olympic Games on Sunday suggested there is still a sizable gap between China and the sport's powerhouses.

However, Austrian Kuttin, who took charge of China's national team in 2018, says Zhou is improving steadily and, with continued hard work and dedication, can become a podium contender.

"We always have to believe in dreams. If you want to compete in the Olympics, every child, every athlete, every coach is dreaming of medals. We have to work, concentrate and do it," Kuttin told Xinhua at the Lausanne Youth Games' French ski jumping venue, Les Rousses, on Sunday.

"It was very good today. Zhou arrived two days ago. She had a little bit of jet lag and was very tired. But until this competition she was improving very good step by step.

"With a bit more luck, especially in the second round, she could've done even better."

Russia bagged gold, with France second and the Czech Republic third.

The 49-year-old Kuttin knows exactly what it takes to make it to the top in ski jumping. He won three Olympic medals during his career and bagged two golds at the 1991 Nordic world championships.

He and Zhou had set a top-10 target before the season began and now the Austrian believes further improvements will depend primarily on Zhou's determination to put in the hard graft.

"In future, she has to do very hard training on her body condition," said Kuttin. "She can jump very long. If she trains well, she will gain more power and more self-confidence."

A hectic schedule of competition, however, means finding time to train can be tricky.

"We are traveling all over the world. We have only two training jumps, and then the next jump is in the competition. This is way we have had to train," said Kuttin.

"But she is focused on the right things. She is not thinking too much about what can happen. She is just doing. This is a very positive thing."

A number of injuries have taken their toll on the national squad, and Kuttin added: "I have Li Xueyao and Zhou Fangyu, and some other girls injured now. I hope they will come back soon. We need a team. We need more athletes to train and fight together. Then we can improve step by step."

Kuttin is mindful of the pressure his charges will be under at a home Olympics in two years' time and urged the public to have patience with their progress in the build-up to the Games.

"Austria has a very long tradition in ski jumping. In China, we also have some girls who have been jumping since 8 or 9 years old," he said.

"Now the focus is on the 2022 Olympics. There is a lot of pressure on these girls as everybody is watching.

"We have to go on working day by day. We have to trust and believe in our girls. We also need rest. We need some days off not thinking about ski jumping and let the body rejuvenate. Then you can go up step by step.

"What we're doing now is competing in international competitions because we have to go to and fight to this level. We are on this path now.

"We are going to compete in these competitions and acquire different experiences everywhere. This is what we have to learn this season."

Xinhua