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Swimming-Breaststroke champion Luo ready for more
2004-08-16
Luo Xuejuan, twice a world champion, said she had still not reached her limits after winning the 100 metres breaststroke title at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics on August 16th 2004. Luo opened a lead on the return length of the race but had to survive a fierce challenge from Australians Brooke Hanson and Leisel Jones. She said she had been 80 percent sure she had won when she hit the wall. |
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ATHENS - Luo Xuejuan, twice a world champion, said she had still not reached her limits despite winning China's first Olympic swimming gold medal in eight years."I'm very happy because I fulfilled my dream and also my mission as a swimmer," she said after winning the 100 metres breaststroke title. "However, I don't think I did my ultimate. The 20-year-old said she might fulfil her potential at the 2008 Olympics on home soil in Beijing. "In four years, when I'm in the host country I'll have more chances, if I participate," she added. Luo opened a lead on the return length of the race but had to survive a fierce challenge from Australians Brooke Hanson and Leisel Jones. She said she had been 80 percent sure she had won when she hit the wall. World record holder Jones, who broke the Olympic record in Sunday's semi-finals, managed only bronze in the final -- a predicament similar to the one she experienced at last year's world championships in Barcelona where she set a world record in the semi-finals and finished third in final. "I can't blame it on anybody. Obviously it was all my own fault," she said. "Obviously I'm a little bit disappointed but it goes to show that the best person out there won. "I came out bronze. That's obviously what I'm cut out for. She (Luo) is a great swimmer," Jones, silver medallist at the 2000 Sydney Games, said. "I suppose it takes a lot of mental confidence. I'm still only 18 and I'm still learning. This is only my second Olympics and I do believe I have more in me." Luo said, in answer to a question, that she was certain she had a mental advantage over the Australian. Hanson, in contrast to her dejected team mate, was delighted with her medal, particularly as she had just missed a place in the Olympic team at the last two Games. She said she hoped her example would be an inspiration for young swimmers not to abandon their dreams when the going got hard. "To know that four years ago I was going to give up the sport," said the 26-year-old. "To hang in there and fight through all those hard years ... I'm just stoked that I'm here with a silver medal. I've done it tough." As for Luo, she spoke to her parents by telephone after her win and said they were going to Tiananmen Square in Beijing. "My heart is in Tiananmen with my parents and my friends," she said. Luo, whose words were translated by an interpreter, said with a smile: "I'm sure I recommended them to go to bed early tonight." Reuters
Öйú°ÂÔËÃ÷ÐÇÃÇ´óɹ½¡¿µ¼¡·ô ÐÔ¸ÐдÕ漯Æعâ(×éͼ) (2008-06-30)China eyes even greater sports alchemy in 2008 (2004-08-21)Swimming-Breaststroke champion Luo ready for more (2004-08-16)China's Luo completes medal treble at swimming worlds (2001-07-28)China's Luo wins breaststroke gold at world championships (2001-07-24)
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