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China has warned its top athletes not to be complacent despite its best-ever start in any Olympic Games Wednesday (Aug. 18).

By the time China Daily went to press, China was still on top of the medals table with 10 golds, but team spokeswoman He Huixian said that along with that joy was "great worry."

"This is the best start in the six Olympics we have attended and we are at the top of the medals table," said He, vice-president of the Chinese Olympic Committee.

"But the events ahead are the strong suits of the United States and Russia," she told reporters, referring mainly to athletics, which opens with the shot put on Wednesday.

China headed the medals table with 10 golds, six silvers and two bronze - having already hit half of their target 20 titles in Athens. The Americans followed with eight golds and lead in total medals.

He said China divided Olympic events into three categories: sports such as table tennis and diving, where China dominated; sports where China had good potential, such as fencing and rowing; and sports such as athletics and swimming, where China was weak.

"We cannot be considered a true sporting power unless we bring swimming, athletics and boating sports up to speed in time for the 2008 Beijing Games," she said, quoting a Chinese team mantra.

China have retired some competitive heroes from their third-place, 28-medal showing in Sydney. They intend to season younger athletes in a bid to guarantee a dazzling show before a patriotic and increasingly sports-mad home crowd in 2008.

In her speech, He said team leaders had summed up their Athens performance as "one old, one young and one breakthrough."

The old was the men's 10-metre air pistol gold medallist Wang Yifu, at 43, the oldest in China's delegation. The young was fellow shooter Du Li, 22, who won the women's 10-metre air rifle.

The breakthrough was Luo Xuejuan, who took China's first and so far only pool title, winning the women's 100 metres breaststroke gold after struggling to qualify.

"Her victory really inspired the rest of the team," He said.

But the Chinese official said they were not raising their target of 20 golds. She warned the Chinese media, which have issued triumphalist reports, "please don't fabricate stories."

As Chinese sports officials have been doing throughout their stellar start, He reminded athletes of the medals that had been missed as well as won.

She said "basic and even crude mistakes" had cost China in the men's diving and team gymnastics.

"We have not always seen strength in our strongest sports," she said. The men's gymnasts finished fifth in the team event and the women, seventh - both after error-prone performances.

"These past four days have shown us that just about anything can happen in the Olympics," He said.

Editor: Lin Shujun