China lead Asian assault
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-10 05:39

South Korean officials threatened a boycott over the decision by an Australian referee to strip Kim of the gold and hand it to Apolo Anton Ono of the United States.

So in Turin, South Korea intends to go at least one gold medal better than four years ago and is counting on world No 1 short track speed skaters Ahn Hyun-Soo and Jin Sun-Yu to supply two of them.

"Our goal in Turin is to win more than three, which will be enough for us to finish among the top 10," said Byun Tak, head of the 80-member South Korean squad.

Ahn is top-ranked in the men's 1,500 metres while Jin swept four women's races at the World Cup in November.

Other medal hopefuls include speed skater Lee Kang-Seok and ski jumper Kang Min-Hyock.

Kang, 25, is tipped to provide the country's first medal in ski jumping.

Japan's aim is more modest.

They are aiming to win at least one gold medal but one of their best hopes has already been cast aside.

Mao Asada, who turned 15 in September and is three months too young to be eligible for Turin, upstaged world No 1 Irina Slutskaya of Russia to win the women's title at the figure skating Grand Prix series final.

But Japanese sports chiefs decided not to petition for her exemption from their self-imposed Olympic age limit, despite a howl of demands from home fans.

Thus Japan pin their hope solely on male speed skater Joji Kato.

Kato, 20, set the world record of 34.30 seconds in the 500m last November.

"I think people think I am a gold medal favourite," Kato said here on Wednesday. "Setting the world record proved how good I am."

Japanese ski-jumpers, who dominated the Nagano Games, remain as hopeless as they were at Salt Lake City because of a post-Nagano rule that limits the length of skis in favour of taller Europeans.