Breakthroughs were made at the World Championships, a long-standing national record was broken and the country's biggest hero came back to the track in 2009.

Those achievements have boosted confidence as the nation builds up for the 2012 London Olympics.

"The year 2009 was the starting point of our preparations for the London Games. The performances of the Chinese track-and-field athletes and the comeback of hurdler Liu Xiang have raised the morale of our whole team and we are much more confident going forward towards the Olympics," Du Zhaocai, director of China's Athletics Administrative Center (CAAC), told China Daily.