CRI听力:US Brimful of Talents While Top-heavy China Ponders over Future

It appeared even from the beginning that every other team, aside the Americans, was competing for the silver.

The American girls repeated everything they showed in the qualifications, including great stamina, execution and the confidence of being the reigning world champions.

And on top of that, they gained some extra pride in beating the hosts, among the rest of the teams, with a margin that left no doubt about their domination.

Team USA coordinator Martha Karolyi.

"I am very happy that they wanted come back and also at the same time they will have to put the same effort like they did before, the past Olympics games and compete with these girls, and show that who will be able to make it."

The Chinese women's team left the event with their heads held high, as expectations of surpassing the US to take the gold were not very high.

But Chinese head coach Wang Qunce says they can't be complacent.

"You can find as many gymnasts in a single American city as they are in the entirety of our country. This is only in terms of the quality of the talent. If you look at the fundamentals, I think people need to understand that medalists are so few and far between. We need to popularize the sport, especially in our elementary and middle schools, because we need to look at why sports matter to every child."

Wang is certainly not the first to point out the drawbacks in China's regimented state training system for gymnasts.

However, this still doesn't seem to account for the frequent turnover of national-level athletes, especially on the women's national team.

Many fans watching the competition say they find it hard to follow the Chinese team, suggesting every other tournament brings with it a new face on the team.

Unlike their foreign counterparts, Chinese women gymnasts tend to quit the sport at much younger age.

The girls often leave the sport as soon as someone is there to replace them.

For CRI, this is Hai Peng in Nanning.