For Team China gymnasts, the coming two weeks are all about making amends. That's because of the way things unravelled for them four years ago in Athens.
Unthinkable blunders spread among the vaunted squad like an epidemic: Zhang Nan fell off the balance beam; Li Xiaopeng ended up sitting on the mat after a fluffed landing on the vault; Teng Haibin dropped off the pommel horse before he could finish his routine in the men's team event. Even marquee star Yang Wei was not immune, losing it on the high bar and dangling by one hand for several seconds.
It was as if the highly trained group had been possessed by the spirit of the Keystone Cops.
Tipped to win five to six gold medals, China finished their Greece nightmare with only one top finish and three bronze. Teng grabbed the lone gold, bouncing back from his jitters in the team event to win the individual pommel horse.
But it was too little too late - and the squad have not been allowed to live it down.
Up until today, the information board at the front gate of the team's training hall in Beijing still features newspaper clippings of the wall-to-wall coverage that came in the wake of the 2004 debacle.
