Games preparations are heating up so much that interviews are taking longer and longer to arrange. Like, four months is still not enough advance notice for an interview with an Olympic athlete? Cui Dalin, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Sport (GASC) apologized for being unable to fit a one-on-one interview into his schedule. Instead he provided written answers to questions submitted by Newsweek. The GASC oversees China’s Olympic athletes and its strategy for winning gold medals. Cui didn't answer all the questions submitted -- check out his response to questions about "Project 119" -- but at least he didn't evade our request completely. Excerpts :

Newsweek: Does China expect to win more gold medals than any other country at the Beijing Summer Games? What are the Chinese team’s hopes and aspirations?

Cui Dalin: We expect Chinese athletes to do well both in spiritual civilization and in gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. We hope they’ll show the audience not only their good sports technique, but especially their progress in weak areas. We hope the Chinese team will try its best to win gold medals...[But] of course our assessment of the Chinese team at the Beijing Olympic Games will not be limited to the number of gold medals they win. They have a comprehensive target including the following four aspects: