August 03, 2007	Friday	Rajab 18, 1428

BEIJING, Aug 2: China and Russia will be challenging the United States for top spot at next year’s Beijing Olympics, a senior US Olympic Committee official said here on Thursday.

“I anticipate a very competitive environment between China, Russia and the US for both the gold medal count and the total medal count,” said Steven Roush, the committee’s chief of sports performance.

The US topped the gold medal table at the Athens Olympics in 2004 with 36. China was second with 32 and Russia came third with 27.

A senior Chinese sports official on Wednesday played down China’s chances of toppling the Americans from the top of the table at the Beijing Games.

But Roush said the Chinese had already thrown down the gauntlet in 2006 when they won 43 gold medals to 36 for the US and 35 for Russia in top level international events, adding that home advantage would give China a bump in the medal standings that threatened US dominance.

“I anticipate that China will reap the benefits of (home advantage) as most host countries have in recent times ... and it is yet another factor that keeps me up at night when I’m determining how well we are going to do in 2008.”

Roush is visiting Beijing at the head of a US Olympic goodwill delegation to mark the one-year countdown to next year’s Olympics on Aug 8.—AFP