China's champion Olympians – and their Italian guru – chase more gold
Sandro Damilano has led Chinese walkers to glory at three Olympics and six World Championships.
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00:00With its green fields and fresh mountain air, Italy's Piedmont region offers an Olympic
00:08training ground that's hard to beat, and it's where two of China's Olympic racewalkers
00:13are stepping up their pace in preparations, among them national champion Zhou Yangxu.
00:20Each Olympic Games is different. The first time feels like a trial, then the second time
00:25is about setting goals, the third time is about striving, and of course the fourth time,
00:31I still hope to have that mentality and attitude to strive for medals.
00:35Her career highlight was winning gold in the 20km race at the London Games in 2012. This
00:41year will be the 33-year-old's last Olympics, and she'll be competing alongside He Shenghong.
00:48This is my first time participating in the Olympics and this is a new event. My partner,
00:53Qi Yangxu Jie, is a London Olympics gold medalist and has numerous international accolades.
00:59Partnering with her boosts my confidence significantly.
01:03They're under the guidance of Italian athletics legend, Sandro Damilano, who is one of the
01:08best racewalking trainers in the world.
01:11I was recruited by China in 2010, and at the London Olympics we had incredible success
01:21with five medals. And then my contract was extended to the Olympics in Rio, Tokyo and
01:27now Paris. So it's been 15 years that I've been working with the Chinese team.
01:32The 74-year-old says his collaboration with China has exceeded his expectations, both
01:37on and off the track.
01:39From an athletics perspective and in terms of results, it's been an exceptional experience.
01:44From a cultural point of view, it enriched me a lot because I discovered another world.
01:49As for Sandro, we've been working together for 10 years, and in that time my performance
01:54has been quite stable. So it's been a very rewarding experience for me.
02:00The duo will compete in the Mixed Men's Women's Marathon Racewalk Relay, scheduled for August
02:057. Their grueling daily training schedule involves a 30-minute walk, gym and track work.
02:12This is the first time the mixed team walking relay is an Olympic event. The marathon distance
02:17will be raced in four different stages, and 25 teams from around the world will participate.
02:24It's the first time trying this mixed-gender event, which is a challenge for me. I also
02:29hope to have better understanding with my team-mate and be able to cooperate well in
02:34the competition.
02:36So the team is ready and set to go for Paris.
02:39Zhongguo jiayou, which means, come on China.
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