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No mixed feelings to play for China or US
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-03 08:30
BEIJING - "When I stay in the U.S., I miss China a lot, and I miss the U.S. a lot while I stay in China," said former Olympic silver medal winner Gao Jun on her Goodwill Tour here on Thursday.
After winning a silver medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, for her native country China, Gao became a U.S. citizen and has played her adopted country twice at the Olympics, at Sydney in 2000 and at Athens in 2004.
And now she is training hard to compete for the United States in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"No mixed feelings for me to play Olympic Games for both China and the United States in my career," said Gao. "It's only pride there. I dreamed of playing the Olympic Games in China when I was a member of the Chinese delegation in Barcelona. With the Beijing Games one year ahead, I am proud of being a Chinese.
"It's also a kind of pride for me to have the opportunity to play on behalf of the United States for the third Olympic Games," added Gao.
The 38-year-old Gao has been a member of the U.S. national team since 1997. She has qualified for U.S. Olympic squad after capturing the gold medal in women's singles at the Pan American Games which just ended up in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Gao, who started playing table tennis at five, remains single and has devoted most of her time to table tennis.
"When I was a little girl, I couldn't feel the pleasure of playing table tennis, but just take it as kind of job. Now I am not that young, but I gradually realize the happiness table tennis brings to me," said Gao, who was born in Baoding, Hebei province, some 200 kilometers away from Beijing.
Gao, ranked 16th in the world, studies economic trade at the East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai, China, and takes training there.
Gao sets her goal upon podium finish in the Beijing Games. "I want to win a medal for the United States no matter what color it is. I need a medal to promote the sport in the United States," said Gao.
"In the United States, people take table tennis as a hobby, so it's not easy to dig up professionals. In China, there are thousands of top players, so it's a huge gap on the sport between the two great sports powerhouses.
"China is unbeatable in table tennis, but I will try my best to win a medal in my fourth Olympic Games."
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