Some countries build Olympic glory on a heritage in particular sports. Brazil's success in soccer starts on the beaches and in the favellas of Rio de Janeiro. US basketball begins on the streets. Kenya's distance athletes get their start by running to school each day. In China, the wheels of sport spin in a different way. Basketball and soccer are two of the most popular sports in China. They are also guilty of having made the least progress internationally. Apart from a silver medal at Atlanta 1996 in women's soccer, they have been continual disappointments to the millions desperate for even the slightest flicker of success. Soccer takes the proverbial biscuit. Even an Olympic Games on home turf couldn't shake the team out of its mess of internal politics, coaching debacles and woeful play. Ratomir Dujkovic was sacked as head coach just 22 days before the Games were due to open. The Serb's dismissal came after a baffling, yet apparently ferocious, fight with the sport's administrators. When the Olympic squad was first assembled, hopes were high that intensive preparation would knock the carefully selected team into shape and shake off some of the controversies surrounding the game by challenging for a medal. It didn't take long for the squad to revert to form - the low point being a brawl in a training match against English second-tier side Queen's Park Rangers in London in 2007. Added to the gloomy medal picture is the fact that soccer is growing into an increasingly competitive Olympic contest. Stars such as Ronaldinho and Diego will line up for Brazil and Lionel Messi is still desperate to get Barcelona's permission to play for Argentina. A Chinese team spearheaded in attack by Manchester United marketing gimmick Dong Fangzhuo hardly have their rivals shaking in their boots. The cancer appears to have spread to the women's game. After the highs of Atlanta, the 'Steel Roses' have gone steadily downhill. Coaches have come and gone in quick succession and at last year's World Cup at home the quarter-final exit was considered a creditable performance. It'll take more than a return to form by star striker Ma Xiaoxu for this team to find their way past the likes of Marta's Brazil and the World Cup-winning Germans. Even with the Yao Ming/Yi Jianlian NBA duo aboard, the men's basketball team saw their chances of advancing from the preliminary stages diminish after being drawn in a group with powerhouses the US, Spain and Greece. The front court is strong, with veteran Wang Zhizhi completing the top-class triumvirate, but a weak back court means their impact is lessened. In basketball, more than any other sport, it is the system for cultivating talent that is holding the team back. There is a lack of point guards with passing skills to get the ball to the likes of Yao. The fact is, China underachieves in almost all team sports. The exception is women's volleyball, an event China won in 1984 and 2004, and they should compete for gold again. 'The sports authorities invest heavily in disciplines that market-driven western competitors neglect, if not ignore,' said Jin Shan, a researcher on sports and culture at the Beijing Social Science Academy. 'It's better value for money to nurture medal hopefuls in women's weightlifting, table tennis and diving. They simply have no rivals in those departments. 'In addition, the sports' officialdom still hasn't hit on the right logistics, management skills and training methodology that inspire success in the usually sophisticated team sports.' While the lack of success in some sports might be justified, in others failure seems ironic. With tens of millions of bicycles still dominating its streets, China hasn't produced any memorable names in cycling. And officially, China has the biggest horse population on the planet: but this doesn't mean there will be a rider on the equestrian podium in Hong Kong. Taking a look at the breakdown of the 112 Olympic gold medals China has won, behind diving and weightlifting and the popular British import of table tennis, shooting stands out as the fourth most productive event with 14 golds. And bear in mind Chinese citizens are not allowed to possess firearms under some of the most stringent laws in the world. So never take things for granted when it comes to China.