CAA holds altitude training seminar in Beijing

A two-day seminar on altitude training was launched by the Chinese Athletic Association (CAA) here on Thursday, aiming to introduce the world leading altitude training methods to Chinese coaches.

More than 120 Chinese track and field coaches, both the national level and grassroots alike, as well as national team coaches from other endurance sports such as swimming, rowing and cycling have enrolled in the seminar.

The three foreign lecturers invited by the organizers namely are Randall L. Wilber, a senior American sport physiologist at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, German scientist Dr. Ulrich Hartmann from the Institute of Movement and Training Science in Sports at the University of Leipzig, as well as Kenyan coach Gilbert Cheruiyot Koech, coach of reigning women's marathon world champion Edna Kiplagat.

"Altitude training has been a key training method for endurance events. And it has helped those events reach the highest levels in Olympics. The Chinese Athletic Family has committed to research on altitude training and this has ensured we accumulated experience in this field," said Du Zhaocai, vice-president of CAA.

"Our purpose to organize his altitude training seminar is to provide our coaches the opportunity to learn the latest knowledge in this area. The lecturers include not only researchers and professors, but also coach with rich experience. Their lecture will cover both theories and practice experience. I believe all attendants will benefit from the seminar," Du added.

A total of five track and field gold medals have been won by Chinese athletes since they started to compete in Olympic Games in 1984. Four out of the five golds are from endurance events with two from marathon and two from race walking.