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China Team has snatched the best ever results of 100 medals in the Beijing 2008 Olympics. The historical success attributes not only to the effort of athletes, but also to the tireless support from coaches, scientific and medical experts throughout the year. In order to promote exchange between coaches from Hong Kong and Mainland China, the annual Hongkong Bank Foundation Elite Coaches Seminar was held on 23-24 May 2009 at the Guangzhou Sport University for the first time. The theme for this year's Seminar is "The Olympics and Way to Success". The opening ceremony of the Seminar was officiated by Dr Trisha Leahy, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI), Jiang Zhixue, General Director of Science and Education Department of General Administration of Sport of China and Billy Leung, Senior Vice President & Branch Manager of the Guangzhou Branch of HSBC Bank (China) Company Limited.

Five coaches, team manager, psychological and medical experts who have helped athletes prepare for the Beijing 2008 Olympics shared their invaluable experience with the audience.  The Seminar has successfully attracted over 130 local and Mainland China coaches to attend.

Dr Trisha Leahy, said at the opening ceremony, “With the support from the All-China Sports Federation, we are able to invite renowned speakers from Mainland China to share their expertise and views with local and Mainland China coaches.  This year the Seminar is held in Guangzhou for the first time, it provides not only an excellent opportunity to expand our coaches’ horizon, but also an exchange platform for coaches from Hong Kong and Mainland China.” 

Jiang Zhixue said, “We are delighted to see that more coaches and participants coming from different backgrounds are taking part in the Seminar, and the content of the Seminar is having a greater variety.  It has also become an international seminar for coaches in the Asian region.”

Five professionals of different expertise coming from Mainland China and Hong Kong delivered presentation on 23 and 24 May.  Lu Shanzhen, Vice Director of Gymnastics Administration Centre of General Administration of Sport of China, shared with audience “The Experience and Lesson Learned from the Preparation of The Beijing Olympics”.  Coach Lu has been the Head Coach of China Women’s Gymnastics Team since 1983 and had nurtured numerous world champions and Olympic gold medalists like Liu Xuan, Cheng Fei, Kui Yuanyuan and Zhang Nan.  Lu successfully led the women’s team to win a gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. 

Professor Zhang Zhongqiu, Director of Sport Psychology Laboratory of China Administration of Sports, spoke on the topic “Athletes’ Psychological Potential Exploration & Predicting Factors of Performance”.  Professor Zhang is also the leader of the specialist group in psychology for the preparation of the Olympic Games; he shared with the participants on how to explore the psychological potential of elite athletes and the key elements for predicting the athletes’ psychological state before Major Games. 

Zhang Xielin, Former Vice President of Chinese Table Tennis Association and Former Vice Director of Table Tennis and Badminton Administration Centre of General Administration of Sport of China, discussed his experience with the audience from the perspective of an athlete, an Olympic coach and a sports administrator in the topic “My Life with Table Tennis”.  Zhang had coached the China Women’s Table Tennis Team for over 20 years.  During the period, he led his team to clinch 10 world championship titles in team event and many Olympic gold medals in single event.  Many famous table tennis athletes, such as Deng Yaping, Jiao Zhimin and Huang Junqun were trained by him. 

Dr Raymond Che-tin Li, Sport Physiotherapist of the Hong Kong Sports Institute, was appointed by the Chinese National Sports Bureau in 2006 as one of the 40 medical experts for the China National Olympic Team in preparation for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.  He shared his work experience as a physiotherapist in Beijing in the topic of “Prepare for the Olympic Games – When the East Met the West in Rehabilitation”, including the experience of rehabilitating the world champion figure skater Zhao Hong-bo in 180 days after a tendo-achilles rupture.  Zhao and his partner Shen Xue finally obtained a valuable bronze medal in the XX Olympic Winter Games in Torino, which was regarded as a miracle in medical history.

Liu Weiguo, Team Manager of Chinese National Weightlifting Women’s Team, elaborated the topic “Scientific Training for Full-scale Olympics Preparation” which covered the training programmes for the China Women’s Weightlifting Team from stipulation, execution, evaluation, nutritional perspective and injury recovery as well as the preparation and experience gained from the Beijing Olympics.

After the morning presentation session on 24 May, the participants were arranged a half-day visit to some of the sporting facilities in Guangzhou, including the Guangdong Olympic Stadium which will be the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 16^th Asian Games.

Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Coaching Committee and the All-China Sports Federation with the funding from the Hongkong Bank Foundation, and coordinated by the Guangzhou Sport University this year, the annual Seminar aims to provide a platform for overseas experts (especially those from Mainland China) and local coaching professionals to exchange ideas.