TOKYO (Reuters) – China’s women’s volleyball coach Jenny Lang Ping is not banking on a repeat performance of their gold medal win in 2016 as she attempts to lead her country to back-to-back Olympic success in Tokyo.
Lang steered the Chinese to their first Olympic title in 12 years in Rio and knows her team face significant challenges in their quest to retain the crown.
“We are not going to defend the title, we are here to fight hard for the title,” she was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
“Things have changed a lot since the 2016 Rio Games and our opponents have improved a lot. We can take nothing for granted.”
The 60-year-old Lang, an Olympic champion as a player in 1984, will lead her team into their first Group B game against Turkey on July 25.
China will also face the United States, Russia, Italy and Argentina, with the top four teams in the group advancing to the quarter-finals.
The Chinese are among the favourites after winning gold at the World Cup in 2019 and bronze at the 2018 world championships.
“All the teams are going to do their best at the Olympic Games, we have to be fully prepared for all kinds of difficulties,” she said.
(Reporting by Michael Church in Hong Kong, Editing by Ed Osmond)
