Japanese female gymnasts will try their best to make it to the team final after their 16-year absence from the Olympics, team head coach said?in Beijing?on Thursday.
After a 3-hour practice session at the National Indoor Stadium, Chieko Tsukahara told reporters that her girls are "working towards the goal of making the team final at the Beijing Olympics."
Overshadowed by their male counterparts who claimed the team title in Athens, Japan's women team only got the chance to return to the Olympics last year when they won a 12th place in the team competition at the Stuttgart World Championships.
"I think the team's mood is very good. If everyone does her best individually, we'll get a good result as a whole," Kuroda Mayu said after Thursday's training.
Mayu, a leading figure in Japan's women team, finished 4th on uneven bars in the Melbourne and Arhus World Championships.
(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2008)