China faces an uphill battle if the host country wants to top the medals table at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, according to a senior sport official.

Cui Dalin, vice president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, warned that judging from the gold medals won last year, China still lags far behind such sporting powers as the United States and Russia.

According to the 2005 sports statistics, American athletes collected 42 gold medals in major events like World Championships and World Cup, with Russia garnering 34 world titles.

But China only claimed 28 golds, most of which came from the country's favorite sports such as weightlifting, diving, shooting, table tennis and gymnastics.

"There are not many gold medals on offer in our favorite sports, "Cui was quoted as saying by Thursday's China Sports Daily.

"We have done our best in our favorite sports, and there is little room for us to increase the gold medal tally."

But the United States and Russia are very strong in the medal-rich sports such as athletics and swimming, Cui added.

Last year the U.S. took 29 world titles in athletics and swimming while Russian track and field athletes captured 6 world titles, but China suffered a gold medal drought in the two major sports.

"It is very hard for us to make big breakthrough in the major sports in a short time,"said Cui.

There was breakthrough for China in the men's 48kg boxing, modern pentathlon and sailing, but the general situation remains the same.

"We managed to gain ground in those events, but our performances are not consistent enough, so the golds in 2008 Olympics will still mainly come from our favorite sports,"he said.

The adjustment to the Beijing Olympic program is not good news for China, either.

"The total of the Olympics disciplines remains unchanged, but some of our favorite disciplines have been dropped from the program, while the addition, like BMX, is still very new in China, "he added.

In the 2004 Athens Olympics, the United States finished atop the medal table, followed by China and Russia.

Source: Xinhua