Chinese officials say 50 gold medals are beyond reach during the 2012 Olympic Games in London

After topping the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games with a record 51 gold medals, China is firmly in the spotlight as the London Olympics approach.

Senior Chinese sports officials believe the Chinese delegation will also perform exceptionally well at the London Games, but to top the rankings again it has to claim more than 40 golds.

"No matter who finishes No 1 in gold medals in London, it won't gain more than the 50 China won in Beijing," said Jiang Xiaoyu, former vice-president of the Beijing Olympic organizing committee and current deputy director of the Education, Science, Culture, Health and Sports Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body.

"If a country wins more than 40 golds, it might be No 1 in London," Jiang said.

"The charming part of competitive sports is that they are unpredictable. If the Chinese athletes work hard and try their best, no matter which position they rank, it is acceptable. But, of course, finishing in the top three is the expected result for China. Remaining in the top three on the gold medal table should be the goal ... and the higher the better."

Since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the number of gold medals earned by China has kept increasing. It gained 16 in Atlanta, 28 in Sydney in 2000, 32 in Athens in 2004 and reached that record of 51 on home soil in 2008.

"I believe the Chinese delegation will perform well at the London Games. After the Beijing Olympics, all the teams started another round of systematic training," said Cui Dalin, a former deputy sports minister, who was in charge of the preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"China has considerable strength in many competitions. However, it will face strong challenges in London, so it's not an easy job," said Cui, who retired in 2010.

"The biggest difference from Beijing is that we are not the host. Nearly all the spectators cheered for us at the Beijing Games, but that won't happen in London.

"Additionally, as the reigning world No 1, China is the clear target for all the other countries. Before the Beijing Games, we were not regarded as strong enough, so the other countries didn't pay much attention to us. Therefore, we rose to the lead quietly.

"When we beat traditional powerhouses, the US and Russia, in Beijing, the athletes in other countries started to do research on us. We are now the hunted."

As analyzed by Cui, besides the US and Russia, some European countries will also challenge China - especially the host, Britain.

British diving superstar Thomas Daley has set his sights on a podium finish in the men's 10m platform and looms as a major challenge to the traditionally strong Chinese team.

Cycling is another areas in which British athletes expect to gain a fair share of medals.

At the Beijing Games, China edged the British in the last couple of meters to win the women's quadruple sculls rowing gold medal a breakthrough for China in rowing. But at the London Games, such a repeat performance would be doubly hard to achieve.

"The European countries will consider London as almost like a home field, so they will strongly challenge us," Cui said.

"Some of our (Beijing) gold medalists and veterans have retired. Most of our teams are in a transitional period. That could also be a problem for us.

"The general administration of sport hasn't set gold medal targets for any team; all it wants is for the athletes to do their best. If they show their fighting spirits ... all kind of results will be acceptable to the public."

leilei@chinadaily.com.cn