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Kevin Lee

Name: Zhang Juanjuan 
Date of birth: January 2, 1981 in Qingdao, Shandong province

Entry for Beijing Olympics: archery, women's individual and team event 

Major rivals: Yun Ok-hee, Yun Mi-jin, Lee Tuk-young (all from South Korea)

Career highlights: Winner, 2001 World Championships team event; silver medal, 2004 Athens Games team event; Winner, 2006 World Cup individual event 

Having grown up in a nation that boasts a 3,000-year history of archery but has never tasted gold at the Olympics, Zhang Juanjuan is determined to right that record.

The country's archers used to be the best in the world, having conquered the Euro-Asia regions during the Yuan dynasty 800 years ago and played key roles in countless battles for feudal emperors.

 In modern times, they have had to settle for second best behind the South Koreans - a situation that the 27-year-old Zhang believes will change in August.

'I hate people saying South Korea has the best archers in the world,' Zhang said during the Good Luck Beijing Archery Invitational in March. 'Just read some history books, you'd know China has always had the best archers.'

Despite Zhang's patriotism, the record books show China has played second fiddle to South Korea since archery was introduced as an Olympic sport at Munich in 1972.

 Zhang believes it is time to stop the Korean medal hogs. 'They are not unbeatable,' she said. 'Chinese archers have made rapid progress and I would like to join the younger archers in winning our first gold.'

Zhang, ranked fifth in the world, has every reason to believe in herself. She won the season-ending World Cup final in 2006, and was also a member of the 2001 world championship winning team, who beat South Korea for the first and, so far, only time.

'I've dreamed about this a thousand times - to see those silver medals in my bedroom turn into gold,' Zhang said. 'Fans have been waiting for it for quite a long time, I don't want to let them down again - especially not on our turf.'

Despite its long history, archery is far from popular in China. According to Zhou Yuan, the country's archery management chief, half of the national team are from the Xibo ethnic minority, a group of just 180,000 living in Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces. It is the only community that has inherited the traditions of archery.

 Zhou said it was hard to attract talent to the sport, but Zhang sees that as another spur to take Olympic gold.

'If we can win a gold medal, we can raise the awareness of archery among the public and get kids to compete at an early age. That's very important,' she said.

Zhang will be joined by Qian Jialing, 20, and He Ying, 33, for the team event.




No 29: Zhang Juanjuan