"I will strive for greater improvement in the Vancouver Winter Olympics with the encouragement of people in my hometown," Wang Chunli, the cross-country skiing champion of the 2007 Asia Winter Games, said after finishing her torch relay in the Jilin city leg.

Wang, born in Jilin city, said that she is so exciting to run the Olympic torch relay as the first torchbearer in hometown.

Wang won the cross-country skiing in the 6th Asian Winter Games in 2007, the first Chinese to pocket the gold medal.

After the games, Wang turned to biathlon, which is expected to make a historical breakthrough in the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2008)