Waived skating manager concerned about China's winter games

Wang Chunlu, who stepped down last August as China's short track speedskating team manager after an internal brawl, told Xinhua via phone Monday that she's still concerned about the sport though being away from the ongoing national winter games.

"I've been concerned about the competitions back in my hometown Changchun, just as usual," said Wang, who was appointed as an executive official of the Chinese winter sports administrative center after being deprived of the manager post following the drunken brawl involving four-time Olympic champion Wang Meng.

"I'm not there for the winter games since I'm doing some study and research in Beijing," said Wang Chunlu, who retired from a successful athlete career after winning three world championship golds and a 2002 Olympic bronze medal.

"But I read news and watch television to follow the top level multi-sport winter event," she added. "The performance of our younger skaters were really satisfactory."

Wang Chunlu had been on the national team's management for over five years, before she collided with Wang Meng at a training camp based in the eastern Chinese port of Qingdao last July.

The 33-year-old said Wang Meng violated the team disciplines and punched her first when the "talk" went awry, while Wang Meng admitted to breaking a curfew but said the manager threw the first punch.

The brawl led to Wang Chunlu's layoff while Wang Meng was expelled from the Chinese short track team and banned from both international and national competitions.

Criticism about the short track national team's management, however, did not vanish following the duo's flying low.

Wang Chunlu should have been one of the torch bearers to light the main cauldron at the national winter games' opening ceremony, but was moved from the list at the last minute.

Wang Meng, at one time, exiled herself to the United States two weeks before the national winter games kicked off in Changchun, citing doing rehab for her injured hand. Her chance of being recalled to the nationals stays unclear though the 2012 world short track championships is just around the corner.