11 foreign athletic coaches needed for Olympics

BEIJING - China plans to hire 11 foreign athletic coaches for the Rio Olympics, a top Chinese athletic official said on Wednesday.

"China needs advanced training ideas and methods from foreign coaches to catch up with other countries and regions in athletics, " said Feng Shuyong, the deputy director of the Chinese Athletics Administrative Center.

Before London Olympics, the Chinese athletic team had some foreign coaches in the fields of walk, women's discus throw, and women's marathon, and witnessed breakthrough with one gold and four bronze medals in London.

Chen Ding, 21, took the men's 20km walk gold with a new Olympic record. It is the first Olympic gold won by a Chinese male walker and also the second Olympic athletic gold won by a Chinese male after the country's hurdling star Liu Xiang achieved the feat in 2004 Athens Olympics.

"Considering the success we have already made, we decided to hire more foreign coaches," said Feng.

Till now, China has already introduced two new foreign coaches -- legendary track coach Randall Huntington from the United States and marathon coach Cavallo from Italy.

"Foreign coaches can not solve all the problems faced by the Chinese athletic team," said Feng, adding, "Chinese athletes also need to attend more high-level international games."