China taking great strides forward (2)

"I proved that my performance didn't happen by chance and I am definitely more confident now," said the 23-year-old long jumper, who beat London Olympic champion Greg Rutherford at the Shanghai meet.

Zhang, who failed to smash his own 100m NR of 10.04 sec in Beijing, still earned plaudits from some of the fastest men in the world.

"I am the oldest and fastest man in the world (over 30 years of age), so I look at Zhang and I see the future, not just for China but for athletics all over," 31-year-old Justin Gatlin, the men's 100m champion at the 2004 Olympics, said after winning the sprint in Beijing.

"I think he has a chance to reach many finals at the Olympics and World Championships."

Impressed by Zhang's potential, Gatlin invited the 25-year-old to train with him in Florida later this season.

"My goal is to fill in the blank that no men from China have ever appeared in the 100m final at the Olympics, not just win the title at the National Games," said Zhang.

Benefiting from the country's foreign coaching program, the new breed of athletes, like Wang and Zhang, are more willing than their predecessors to display their individuality and express their opinions in public.

After winning the high jump in the Bird's Nest, Wang bowed with one hand on his chest and the other on his back to the cheering home crowd before making a brief but eloquent speech on how important higher education was to athletes at the post-race media conference.

Feng Shuyong, deputy director of the national track and field administrative center, said: "They are not only improving their results but also their mentality and confidence.

"They are not afraid to challenge the best athletes in the world or to bring out their ambitions, which I believe is a key requirement for top-level athletes."

So far this season Chinese athletes have reached the World Championships' A standards in 13 disciplines, including traditionally weak events like sprinting and jumping.

However, Feng remains guarded about the country's prospects at the Moscow Worlds in August.

"It's too early to make a prediction now as some of our top athletes in the strength and endurance events have injury problems. And the National Games after the Worlds will be a distraction."

Still, the performance of the new generation has impressed some renowned foreign athletes.

"It's exciting. They are catching up. The (Chinese) athletes are making progress," Allyson Felix, the US world and Olympic champion in the women's 200m, said after winning in Beijing.

Felix's countryman, LaShawn Merritt, echoed that sentiment.

"I know Liu Xiang will be back, but China has a lot other great athletes coming up. He will be missed but I am sure there will be somebody else to step up," said Merritt, the 400m gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.