China's Olympic triathlon team will not be deterred from training on motorways despite the tragedy of the past week that saw a 17-year-old athlete killed and eight of her teammates injured. The accident happened when a car ploughed into them as they were training on a motorway in southern Yunnan province. Chen Lihong was rushed to hospital and died shortly afterwards of head injuries. An official with the sports administration said the triathletes were all on China's national team and were in training for next year's Asian Games and the Beijing Olympics. Chen was ranked eighth in China, 20th in Asia and 170th in the world. The sports administration paid tribute to Chen and pledged to launch a safety check on sports training camps. 'We are very sad about the death of one of our country's elite athletes,' Zhang Haifeng, spokesman for the administration, told Xinhua. The team's head coach, Zhang Jian, said the team would continue to train on the motorway as the course was similar to the one they would compete on in next year's Asian Games.'We will not give up because of this accident,' he said. 'Giving up would not be in the sporting spirit.' Chen's eight teammates were all expected to make full recoveries, the official said. Television footage showed mangled bicycles and a motorway strewn with helmets and shoes. The report said the car was driven by a learner driver who caused the accident by overtaking a van on the inside lane where he careered into the athletes. The driver has been detained. The World Health Organisation says that China's roads are the deadliest in the world, estimating that 242,000 people were killed in traffic accidents here last year - about 680 a day.
