It's beginning to sound like a broken record at these Olympics. The Chinese anthem blasts out again and again and again as its athletes ascend the podium.
The biggest match of all at these Olympics isn't in the pool or on the parallel bars, it is on the podium where China and the U.S. are battling it out for top spot in the medal count.
The Cold War is long over, but anyone watching these games can see that the U.S. and China are in an Olympic gold war.
While the U.S. medal haul has been consistent in recent years, China has rocketed from nowhere to top of the heap. Just look at the numbers:
Gold Medals:
1988: U.S. 36, China 5 2000: U.S. 37, China 28 2008: U.S. 36, China 51
How do they do it? This week, ABC News correspondent Gloria Riviera in Beijing visited one of the thousands of sports schools where future Olympians are already being groomed. These kids are hand-picked from a population of more than a billion. They start at ages 5 and 6.
Headmaster Gao Jiamei told Riviera that the secret to China's success is young athletes who train hard and can endure hardship.
The biggest match of all at these Olympics isn't in the pool or on the parallel bars, it is on the podium where China and the U.S. are battling it out for top spot in the medal count.
The Cold War is long over, but anyone watching these games can see that the U.S. and China are in an Olympic gold war.
While the U.S. medal haul has been consistent in recent years, China has rocketed from nowhere to top of the heap. Just look at the numbers:
Gold Medals:
1988: U.S. 36, China 5 2000: U.S. 37, China 28 2008: U.S. 36, China 51
How do they do it? This week, ABC News correspondent Gloria Riviera in Beijing visited one of the thousands of sports schools where future Olympians are already being groomed. These kids are hand-picked from a population of more than a billion. They start at ages 5 and 6.
Headmaster Gao Jiamei told Riviera that the secret to China's success is young athletes who train hard and can endure hardship.
