LEGENDARY Chinese gymnast Li Ning said last night that politics and sports should not mix, and China should send a team to Atlanta. 'Politics should be kept in the political arena,' said Li, the triple gold medallist at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, during an exhibition in Hong Kong.
'I won my gold medals in Los Angeles because the Russian athletes were missing because of a boycott. If China doesn't send a team, the standard of many sports will suffer. Gymnastics will be one of them,' said the 33-year-old, who now runs his own sportswear business in China.
World all-round gymnastics champion Li Xiaoshuang, who hopes to emulate Li Ning's feat and win three golds in Atlanta, echoed his sentiments. 'I strongly believe China will send a team to Atlanta because this is a political issue and it shouldn't involve sport. My training has been geared towards Atlanta and I'm going to continue training as if we are still going,' said the 21-year-old star, who won a gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
