China's skating legend Yang Yang (A) will lead the country's quest for gold one last time in 'the final battle of Turin', as the Chinese team are calling the upcoming Winter Olympics.
The 30-year-old short track speed skater became a national icon on ice when she won China's first-ever gold medals at a Winter games, taking the 500 metres and the 1,000 metres in Salt Lake City in 2002.
She retired after the Salt Lake City games and spent a year studying English in the United States before returning to China, where she is now finishing a business management degree in Tsinghua University. But with the Turin Olympics looming it was not difficult for her coaches to coax her into donning her skates once more.
'I am still young and in good condition,' she said. 'When I was absent from the rink I found I missed it very much. I knew that if I was only a spectator for the Turin Olympics I would be very sad.'
While she is reluctant to make personal medal predictions, she says she still has plenty of confidence in her ability. 'I wouldn't have come back to the team if I didn't think I could put in a very good performance in Turin,' she said.
Her experience will also be invaluable to her young teammates. Yang took two individual silver medals in the Nagano games in 1998, and not only won two golds four years later but set an Olympic record in the process. She has also led her team to two Olympic silvers in the relay event.