China eye four-five medals at World Athletics

The Chinese track and field team has set the goal to collect four to five medals at the 2015 World Athletics Championships slated for Aug 22-30, a senior official said here Thursday.

"We want to win four to five medals in Beijing and hopefully there could be at least one gold," Chinese Athletics Association vice-president Du Zhaocai was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

China won four medals in each of the previous three editions of International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships. In the 2013 edition in Moscow, China grabbed one silver and three bronze medals but failed to notch a gold.

"It is the first time for China to host the IAAF World Championships so we hope we can hear the national anthem sung in the Bird's Nest," Du said, adding that Chinese athletes will try to perform to their best level in front of the home crowds.

The 15th edition of IAAF World Championships will be held at the National Stadium in Beijing, known as the "Bird's Nest" which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the athletics events of the 2008 Olympic Games.

It will be the first time for the biyearly tournament, which has been launched since 1983, to be held in China.

According to the organisers, the tournament will be featuring around 2,000 athletes from over 200 countries and regions.