Chinese sailors to begin quest for Olympic qualification in Denmark

A new Chinese national sailing team has been unveiled in Beijing. 

They sailors performance is being fine tuned through a series of competitions leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The Chinese Yachting Association announces China's new sailing team its commercial parnters in Beijing on July 18, 2018. [Photo: 51hanghai.com]

China's young new team will take part in the Sailing World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. 

The event serves as the 1st qualifying for Tokyo 2020. 

Team leader Zhu Xinjian says that qualifying for the Olympics is the team's top priority, but that a few things need to be worked on before they can secure top spots. 

"One thing they need to work on is their experience in major competitions. They will have to study their opponents through international competitions, such as the World Championships in Denmark. They need to be consistently calm to compete at their highest level," Zhu says.  

As well as overcoming mental barriers, the athletes have to beat their physical barriers. China has not always been competitive in sailing compared to their Asian neighbors. 

Women's laser radial sailor Zhang Dongshuang says she has plans in place to give a boost to her performance. 

"We've discovered some flaws that we have. During the last Olympic cycle, my stamina and body weight were my weaknesses. So this time we are working on that, so I'm better prepared for the competitions," she says.  

Qualifying for the Olympics, or even winning an Olympic medal, requires a collective effort. Although sailing has not been an especially popular sport in China, the national team are asking for all the support they need so they can have a successful Olympic Games. 

Chinese Yachting association head Zhang Xiaodong is confident that the team will have the help they need to achieve their goal. 

"As the Olympic Games draws closer, we want to gather help from across China, including training camps to make sure that our sailors are well-trained. We've done this for 2008 and 2012, and I think it's a good way to help the team prepare for Tokyo, by making sure we have effective communication and coordination across the whole country," Zhang says. 

China's sailors are competing in 6 disciplines in both the men's and women's category. 

The Sailing World Championships in Denmark get underway on July 30.