Record holder to use Cup event as Olympic springboard

CHINA'S multiple world record holder Le Jingyi will use this weekend's Epson World Cup Hong Kong '96 at the Kowloon Park Indoor Swimming Pool as vital preparation for her quest for gold at the Atlanta Olympics. Le said she would participate in the 200 metres freestyle in Hong Kong when she arrived at Kai Tak airport yesterday with the rest of the Chinese squad.

'I am here for training. I will participate in the 50 metres and 100 metres freestyle in Beijing,' said Le. 'These competitions are part of my preparations for the Atlanta Olympics later this year.

'I have been preparing for the Olympics since 1991. I was in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but I was very young then and the reason I went there was to learn from my seniors like Zhuang Yong. This year's Olympics will be the peak of my swimming career.' China has stayed away from international events until last summer after seven of their swimmers tested positive at the Asian Games in Hiroshima, Japan, in October, 1994.

The Chinese squad avoided questions about the doping issue from the media yesterday.

Their head coach Zhou Ming said China would not participate in the remaining five legs of the seven-leg tournament in Europe after they finished the second leg in Beijing, making the Hong Kong event all the more important to the Chinese in the lead up to the Atlanta Games.

Le, part of the 14-strong Chinese squad, currently holds nine world records - including the women's 50 metres freestyle, 100 metres freestyle, 400 metres freestyle relay, 400 metres medley relay in both long and short courses and 800 metres freestyle relay in short course.

The 20-year-old Shanghainese made her international debut in last August's World Short-Course Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after the Chinese doping scandal in Hiroshima.