The 2008 Summer Olympics are fast approaching. China will host the Games in Beijing from Aug. 8. The rising economic power will do its utmost to mobilize human and other resources to bolster its global image and prestige. In the games themselves, China will strive to grab the most gold medals. In the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, China won 32 gold medals, only four short of the 36 gold medals won by the United States, the No. 1 winner.
In Athens, Japan's performance was not bad. It grabbed a record 37 medals, including 16 gold medals. The 37 medals were the fifth-largest number among the competing countries. But this year, a hard battle may await Japan.
On Jan. 8, officials of the Japan Olympic Committee did an extraordinary thing: They visited Meiji Shrine in Tokyo and prayed for a good performance in Beijing by the Japanese Olympic team. Among them were JOC President Tsunekazu Takeda and Mr. Tomiaki Fukuda, chairman of the JOC National Training Center Commission, who will head the Japanese delegation of athletes and officials. In a recent interview, Mr. Takeda said that, in Beijing, Japan needs to show that its performance in Athens was not transitory and must achieve a record at least as good. He added that a good performance in Beijing is important also in connection with Japan's efforts to host the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2016.