Having broken their winter games duck on the ice four years ago, China is now set on winning its first Olympic gold medal on the snow in Turin next month. The women are expected to lead the charge once more, particularly Li Nina, the current number one in the world freestyle aerial skiing standings. With two of her teammates also well positioned in the top 10, China is hoping to make a couple of appearances on the podium in the ski sports for the first time since they joined the Winter Olympics back in Lake Placid in 1980. In Salt Lake City four years ago, Yang Yang (A) took the nation's first ever two winter golds in short-track speedskating. Another silver in speed skating and a bronze in figure skating made up the total haul, with the snow sports drawing a blank. This time round, apart from the freestyle aerialists, China fancies its chances in the biathlon - the event that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting - after two of its women took silver medals at the world championships last year. Yang Yang will be back on the ice too, after the 30-year-old was coaxed out of retirement to skate for glory one more time. She's in flying form and expects her experience to stand her in good stead in Turin, but her 21-year-old prodigy Wang Meng is blowing away opposition these days and looks like the face of the future. On the figure skating front the Chinese media is hot on the heel of Zhao Hongbo. Having won two world titles with partner Shen Xue the pair were looking good for a medal in Italy until the 22-year-old Harbin native snapped his Achilles' tendon over the summer. He's got his skates back on and plans to compete next month, but he's not sure if his heel will hold out. China will send a total of 76 athletes, accompanied by 75 officials, to the games, the largest ever Chinese delegation to a winter games. Aside from in the four events of speedskating, figure skating, aerial freestyle and biathlon, mainland officials aren't holding out too much hope. 'We wish that we could win all the 15 sports and 84 events we're competing in, but that's obviously unrealistic,' said Xiao Tian, deputy leader of the General Administration of Sports. But even more important than medals to Beijing this time round is know-how - what they can learn from this final dress rehearsal before they play host to the world. More than 150 people from the Beijing organising committee of the Olympic Games (Bocog) are hitting Italy to watch the event unfold from behind the scenes. From media management to logistics to running the opening and closing ceremonies, Beijing staff will be watching and learning. It has become standard Olympic practice for the hosts to allow the cities next in line to see how the show is run. It does, however, tend to cause cultural rifts as already strained staff grumble about demanding visitors who ask a million questions and never feel like they're given enough information. In Athens, several of the organisers were spitting fire at the omnipresent Chinese delegates who were constantly under their feet. And what comes around, goes around: it's an inconvenience Beijing will also have to endure come 2008, when they play host to Vancouver and London while the games are on. As the winter games are only about one-third the size of the summer event, the logistical challenges should prove easier all round. Nonetheless, the organisers have been making heavy weather of it so far, though apparently not creating enough snow in the process for the skiing federation, who say the bare slopes could be a danger to athletes. Turin has pledged to rev-up the snowblasters before the big day, but other problems are not so easily covered up - money, being one of them. No matter how many times they reworked the budget, a Euro41 million ($384.6 million) hole kept popping up, one the host city is going to have to ask the taxpayers to fill. The final budget was only approved this week after months of political wrangling, 23 days before the event opens. A whiff of scandal might pique interest, and that could well come in the form of criminal charges. The International Olympic Committee are still pushing Italy to bring its doping laws into line with Olympic rules, something they say they pledged to do during the bidding process. Under Italian laws, athletes who test positive for banned substances could face jail sentences. While no athlete has ever been jailed under Italy's laws for doping offences, several have been handed suspended sentences. The IOC, dreading the negative publicity that handcuffed athletes might bring to the games, is still hoping Italy will suspend the law for the duration of the games, but there's been no sign of them budging on the matter just yet. Perhaps sensing there's been a lack of hype in the run-up to the games, North American athletes and officials, in particular, have been doing their bit to ensure the profile of the event is raised, although not always for the right reasons. Ski champion Bode Miller sparked headlines recently when he said on '60 Minutes' that he had skied while hammered drunk. While Zach Lund, a 26-year-old follically-challenged skeleton racer claimed he was taking a treatment to fend off baldness, a potion that happened to contain a drug used to shield some performance-enhancing drugs. This week Lund was named on the US team. US Figure skater Michelle Kwan is a controversial selection for the games. The 25-year-old five-time world champion is the poster child for the sport, but she has been bedeviled by injuries of late and could not compete in the national trials. Nonetheless, she petitioned for and was awarded a Turin slot at the expense of 16-year-old Emily Hughes, despite the fact she has admitted her weak groin means there are many jumps she just cannot or will not do. The cynics are suggesting that Kwan's winning smile was deemed more important than her physical condition, in a war that is won or lost on TV ratings. Another person who feels he should be going to Turin in US skeleton coach Tim Nardiello, who was suspended recently in the face of accusations of sexually harassing his female athletes. He allegedly made sexual advances towards some athletes and once famously roared through a loudspeaker while one was sliding down a hill: 'The only time I want to see your legs spread like that is if I am between them.' When his lawyer - a real charmer - was asked if his client had made sexual advances towards one of the women in particular, he answered: 'Never. You ever seen her?' Whatever happens there will be plenty of fun and frolics in Turin next month.