China will send a record 407 athletes to compete in 26 sports at the upcoming Athens Olympics Games, aiming to finish top three in the medal standings, said vice Chef-de-Mission Li Furong in Beijing on Tuesday.

The delegation, announced here in a press conference, will be headed by Yuan Weimin, Minister of the State Administration of Sports, and also consists of 226 officials, interpreters and medical staff.

"We have set two records this time," Li said. "The first is the number of athletes, and the second is the sports we will compete in."

China finished third in the medal standings four years ago in Sydney with 28 golds, 16 silvers and 15 bronzes, behind the United States and Russia.

Li thinks traditional powers United States and Russia are the strongest and should be in a group of their own in Athens while China should be in the second "group" which includes the likes of Australia, France, Germany and South Korea.

"Our target is to ensure our leading position in the second group," he said. "Specifically, I think we can win some 20 gold medals, it's very difficult to capture as many as we earned in Sydney because only 84 athletes out of the 407 have Olympic experiences. And 23 competed in the Atlanta Games, 79 in Sydney and 18 in both."

But he stressed that winning good results is just one of the two goals for the Chinese delegation, the other is to give Olympic experience to the young athletes who are medal hopefuls in the 2008 Olympics Games in Beijing.

"323 of them are first timers," he said. "And the average age of the 407 athletes is only 23.3, down 0.5 compared with that in Sydney. And 227 athletes are under 23.3."

Li, a former three-time world table tennis silver medalist, said, "After tasting the Olympics for the first time, they can definitely do better in the 2008 Beijing Games."

The oldest athlete is 43-year-old sharpshooter Wang Yifu, who will compete in his sixth Olympic Games and expect to win his second gold medal. The youngest is female swimmer Zhang Tianyi, who is only 14.

And as before, China will rely more on women athletes than men in Athens. Among the 407 athletes, women account for 269 and men for only 138.

Li said that Chinese athletes will face harder challenge in Athens than four years ago.

"In our potential medal events like table tennis, diving and badminton, either Australia or South Korea can pose serious threats to us," he said. "And we cannot afford to any mistakes in gymnastics, shooting and fencing before our Russian rivals."

China has competed in five Olympics since they returned to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in late 1970s. They finished fourth in the medal table three times in 1984 Los Angeles Games (15 golds), 1992 Barcelona (16), 1996 Atlanta (16) and ranked third in 2000 Sydney (28). They collected only five golds in the 1988 Seoul Games.

Following is the full roster of the Chinese athletes:

    Shooting:

Women: Tao Luna, Chen Ying, Ren Jie, Cao Ying, Zhao Yinghui, DuLi, Wu Liuxi, Li Qingnian, Wang Chengyi, Wei Ning, Gao E

Men: Tan Zongliang, Wang Yifu, Yao Ye, Wang Zheng, Liu Zhiwei, Zhu Qinan, Jin Di, Hu Binyuan, Xu Dan, Geng Hongbin, Li Jie (Shandong), Zhang Penghui, Chen Yongqiang, Jia Zhanbo, Li Jie (Zhejiang)

    Archery:

Women: He Ying, Lin Sang, Zhang Juanjuan

Men: Yong Fujun, Xue Haifeng

    Cycling:

Women: Jiang Yonghua, Li Meifang, Zhang Junying, Qian Yunjuan, Ma Yanping

Men: Zhu Yongbiao

    Fencing:

Women: Li Na, Shen Weiwei, Zhong Weiping, Zhang Li, Tan Xue, Zhang Ying, Meng Jie

Men: Wang Haibin, Ye Chong, Dong Zhaozhi, Wu Hanxiong, Wang Jingzhi, Huang Yaojiang, Chen Feng, Zhou Hanming, Zhao Gang, Tuo Tong, Wang Lei, Xie Yongjun

    Modern Pentathlon:

Women: Dong Le'an, Liang Caixia

Men: Qian Zhenhua

    Triathlon:

Women: Xing Lin, Wang Hongni

    Sailing:

Women: Yin Jian, Shen Xiaoying

Men: Zhou Yuanguo, Chi Qiang

    Rowing:

Women: Yan Xiaoxia, Mu Suli, Gao Yanhua, Jin Ziwei, Cheng Ran, Luo Xiuhua, Cong Huanling, Wu You, Yu Fei, Feng Xueling, Zheng Na,Li Qian, Xu Dongxiang, Zhang Xiuyun, Yang Cuiping, Feng Guixin

Men: Zhu Zhifu, Yang Jian, Su Hui

    Canoe:

Women: Zhong Hongyan, Xu Linbei, Gao Yi, Li Ting, He Jing, Sun Xiujing, Zhang Jinmei, Li Jingjing

Men: Meng Guanliang, Yang Wenjun, Wang Bing, Gong Yongjun, JingYing, Yin Yijun, Wang Lei, Liu Haitao, Tian Qin, Chen Fubin

    Weightlifting:

Women: Li Zhuo, Chen Yanqing, Liu Chunhong, Tang Gonghong

Men: Wu Meijin, Shi Zhiyong, Le Maosheng, Zhang Guozheng, Zhan Xugang, Yuan Aijun

    Judo:

Women: Gao Feng, Xian Dongmei, Liu Yuxiang, Li Shufang, Qin Dongya, Liu Xia, Sun Fuming, Xie Jianhua, Pan Song

    Wrestling:

Women: Li Hui, Sun Dongmei, Meng Lili, Wang Xu

Men: Li Zhengyu, Wang Yuanyuan, Sheng Jiang, Ai Linuer, Saiyinjiya

    Boxing:

Men: Zou Shiming, Liu Yuan, Lei Yuping, Chen Tongzhou, Hada Bateer, Hanati Silamu

    Taekwondo:

Women: Chen Zhong, Luo Wei

    Track and field:

Women: Li Xuemei, Huang Xiaoxiao, Sun Yingjie, Xing Huina, SongHongjuan, Jiang Jing, Wang Liping, Zhang Shujing, Zhou Chunxiu, LiHelan, Guan Yingnan, Huang Qiuyan, Gao Shuying, Zhao Yingying, Li Meiju, Li Fengfeng, Zhang Xiaoyu, Song Aimin, Li Yanfeng, Xue Juan,Ma Ning, Gu Yuan, Zhang Wenxiu, Liu Yinghui, Shen Shengfei, Huang Qun, Zhang Hao, Bu Fanfang, Liang Shuyan, Sun Yiping, Jing Xuezhu,Wang Lina

Men: Cheng Haijian, Yang Yaozu, Liu Xiang, Shi Dongpeng, Zhu Hongjun, Yu Chaohong, Han Yucheng, Qi Haifeng, Li Zhuhong, Liu Feiliang, Zhou Can, Li Yanxi, Wu Tao, Liu Yunfeng, Zhu Ronghua, Han Gang, Dou Zhaobo, Alatan Gadasu, Li Rongxiang, Liu Yang

    Swimming:

Women: Chen Hua, Chen Xiujun, Chen Yanyan, Cheng Jiaru, Gao Chang, Gao Tingyan, Jiang Wenjing, Li Ji, Li Jie, Luo Nan, Luo Xuejuan, Pang Jiaying, Qi Hui, Tang Jingzhi, Wu Binan, Xu Yanwei, Yang Jing, Yang Yu, Yang Zhenhua, Zhan Shu, Zhang Tianyi, Zhou Yafei, Zhu Yingwen

Men: Chen Zuo, Huang Shaohua, Lai Zhongjian, Liu Weijia, Liu Yu,Ouyang Kongpeng, Qu Jingyu, Wang Haibo, Wu Peng, Xin Tong, Yu Rui,Zhang Lin, Zhao Tao, Zheng Kunliang

    Diving:

Women: Guo Jingjing, Wu Minxia, Lao Lishi, Li Ting, Mo Hanna

Men: Peng Bo, Wang Feng, Wang Kenan, Tian Liang, Hu Jia, Yang Jinghui

    Synchronized Swimming:

Women: Zhang Xiaohuan, Gu Beibei, Li Zhen, Chen Yu, Wang Na, HeXiaochu, Hou Yingli, Hu Ni, Wu Man

    Gymnastics:

Women: Zhang Na, Fan Ye, Li Ya, Cheng Fei, Wang Tiantian, Lin Li

Men: Li Xiaopeng, Yang Wei, Huang Xu, Xing Aowei, Teng Haibin, Xiao Qin

    Rhythmic Gymnastics:

Women: Zhong Ling, Dai Yongjun, Lu Yingna, Jiang Yingyan, Lu Yuanyang, Hu Mei, Li Jia

    Trampoline:

Women: Huang Shanshan

Men: Mu Yongfeng

    Women's Handball:

Fan Jie, Zhai Chao, Liu Yun, Li Bing, Zhang Zhiqing, Zhang Li, Wang Min, Wang Shasha, Chen Ji, Wu Yanan, Liu Xiaomei, Sun Laimiao,Yu Geli, Lei Sufen, Li Weiwei

    Women Hockey:

Tang Chunling, Cheng Hui, Li Shuang, Qiu Yingling, Nie Yali, Zhou Wanfeng, Zhang Yimeng, Chen Qiuqi, Hou Xiaolan, Chen Zhaoxia,Ma Yibo, Fu Baorong, Huang Junxia, Mai Shaoyan, Chen Qunqing, Gao Lihua

    Women's Softball:

Li Qi, Zhang Lixia, Guo Jia, Mi Renrong, Wang Xiaoyan, Deng Xiaoling, Wei Qiang, Tao Hua, Zhou Yi, Luo Lin, Zhang Ai, Mu Xia, Li Chunxia, Wu Di, Lu Wei

    Women Football:

Xiao Zhen, Jin Xiaomei, Li Jie, Wang Liping, Fan Yunjie, Pu Wei,Zhang Ouying, Bi Yan, Han Duan, Teng Wei, Bai Lili, Qu Feifei, LiuHuana, Shi Dan, Ren Liping, Zhang Ying, Ji Ting, Gao Yingying, Zhong Jinyu, Liu Yali, Ning Zhenyun, Wang Kun

    Basketball:

Women: Song Xiaoyun, Bian Lan, Pan Wei, Hu Xiaotao, Miao Lijie,Zhang Fan, Chen Nan, Sui Feifei, Ye Li, Chen Luyun, Wang Ling, RenLei

Men: Yao Ming, Menk Bateer, Du Feng, Zhu Fangyu, Li Nan, Zhang Jinsong, Liu Wei, Mo Ke, Yi Jianlian, Chen Ke, Zhang Yunsong, Guo Shiqiang

    Women's Volleyball:

Feng Kun, Yang Hao, Liu Yanan, Li Shan, Zhou Suhong, Zhao Ruirui, Zhang Yuehong, Chen Jing, Song Nina, Wang Lina, Zhang Na, Zhang Ping

    Women's Beach Volleyball:

Tian Jia, Wang Fei, Wang Lu, You Wenhui

    Table Tennis:

Women: Wang Nan, Zhang Yining, Niu Jianfeng, Guo Yue

Men: Ma Lin, Wang Liqin, Wang Hao, Chen Qi, Kong Linghui

    Badminton:

Women: Zhang Ning, Zhou Mi, Gong Ruina, Gao Ling, Huang Sui, Yang Wei, Zhang Jiewen, Wei Yili, Zhao Tingting

Men: Chen Hong, Lin Dan, Bao Chunlai, Fu Haifeng, Sang Yang, Zheng Bo, Zhang Jun, Chen Qiqiu, Cai Yun

    Tennis:

Women: Zheng Jie, Sun Tiantian, Li Ting, Yan Zi

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2004)