Patience has worn out.

China's agonizing wait for its first Turin Olympic gold has come to a break point as anonymous delegation members admit they are under great pressure.

"Chinese people are expecting the first gold, so are we," said a delegation member.

Russia denied China's first title on Monday as Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin beat three Chinese couples into second to fourth place in the pairs figure skating.

On Tuesday, 34-year-old Russian Svetlana Zhurova prevented China from opening a gold account, winning the women's 500m speedskating sprint.

A Chinese coach on Wednesday took all blame for Wang Manli's close defeat to Zhurova.

"It's all my fault," Wang's coach Xie Tian'en told an unscheduled press conference called by the Chinese delegation.

Zhurova won Russia's fourth gold here, edging pre-race favorite Wang and another Chinese Ren Hui into second and third place.

"I had paid little attention to Zhurova and didn't have a right strategy for Wang," said the 66-year-old coach.

Zhurova, who returned to the rink after a long maternity leave, clocked a combined time of one minute, 16.57 seconds over two 500m races, good enough to dash China's gold dream.

China is now counting on short track speedskater Wang Meng to deliver the nation's first gold in the women's 500m Wednesday night.

Media liaison in the Chinese delegation tried to explain to Chinese reporters that Wang Manli's silver was already a breakthrough despite the facts Chinese Ye Qiaobao had already won two long-track speedskating silvers in the 1994 Olympics and short track athlete Yang Yang had ended China's winter Olympic gold drought in 2002.

"Wang Manli overestimated herself and I think the silver medal is good enough," said the delegation's media officer Wen Wen, contradicting Wang's coach's view that the sprinter had been strong enough for the gold.

China will have other gold chances in women's short track 3, 000m relay and women's freestyle aerials.

World top-ranked Li Nina, Xu Nannan and Guo Xinxin will compete in next Wednesday's women's aerials event, fighting for China's last gold, hopefully not the first, in Turin.

Source: Xinhua