US coach Jenny Lang feels at home on 3rd Olympic trip

BEIJING, Aug, 8 (Xinhua)-- Leading the United States women's volleyball team back to her hometown for the Beijing Games, Chinese coach Jenny Lang Ping felt at home.

"I am under no pressure at all, I just feel at home," said the 47-year-old former Olympic champion at a press conference on Tuesday.

Three years and a half after first taking the helm of the American team, Lang and her fans have become more comfortable with the fact that the volleyball heroine will coach against China at the first Olympic Games to be held on her homeland.

"The Chinese fans have become more considerate, right now there are a lot of foreign coaches with Chinese teams," Lang said. "For me, it's a great honor to coach the American team because the United States is very strong in sports."

"If I can give my knowledge to the team and make it better, it will be a great thing," she added.

Next Friday, the United States will play against defending Olympic champion China in a preliminary group match of the Olympic volleyball tournament which is considered as a contest between Lang Ping and her former assistant Chen Zhonghe.

"I can imagine a full capacity 18,000 fans cheering for China," Lang Ping said. "I just hope that we can entertain the fans with an exciting game."

"As a coach, of course I want my team to take the victory, and I think the team which plays better will win. For myself, I will just concentrate on my coaching and hopefully the players can hear me in the roaring voice of home fans."

Lang Ping, who won the gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Games with the Chinese team as a player before leading them to the silver as a coach at the 1996 Atlanta Games, is the only woman volleyball coach at the Beijing Games. She is also joining former Hungary coach Gabriella Kotsis as one of only two women volleyball coaches to lead teams at multiple Olympics.

"It's very special experience for me to coach at two Olympics," Lang said. "I think many of my former teammates have the ability to do that, but I am just lucky."

On her way to a third Olympics in 24 years, Lang enjoyed this Games much better than the previous two.

"I was under great pressure for my last two Games, but this time I feel much better and I really enjoy everyday with the team," she said. "Maybe it's because I have become more mature after 12 years, maybe it's because I have learned how to deal with pressure."

"The Olympics is just a big party and the Olympics is the Olympics of the world. Let's enjoy ourselves."

郎平：回家感觉很好，没有压力

率领美国女子排球队回到祖国参加北京奥运会，郎平感觉就像回家一样。

这位47岁的前奥运冠军在本周二的一次新闻发布会上说："我一点压力都没有，觉得就是回家了。"

执掌美国队三年半之后，郎平和她的球迷已经能够接受她将在祖国首次举办的奥运会上对阵中国队这一事实了。

郎平说："中国球迷比原来宽容了许多，现在中国队也有很多外国教练，对我来说，能够执教美国的球队，我感到非常骄傲。美国是一个体育强国。"

她还说："如果我的经验能够帮助美国队提高自己的水平，那将是非常美妙的事情。"

下周五，美国队将在奥运排球比赛的小组淘汰赛中对阵卫冕冠军的中国队，而这场比赛也被视为郎平和她的前助手陈忠和之间的一场对决。

郎平说："我能想象得到全场18000名球迷全部为中国队加油的场景，我只是希望我们能为球迷奉献一场精彩的比赛。"

"作为一名教练，我当然希望我的队伍获胜，我知道打得好的队伍才会赢。就我个人而言，我只会专注于我的教练职责，希望在国内球迷巨大的加油声中，我的队员能听到我的指挥。"

作为中国女排的一员，郎平与队友在1984年获得第23届洛杉矶奥运会的金牌，之后的1996年亚特兰大奥运会上，她以中国队教练的身份率队出征并摘得一枚银牌。她是北京奥运会上唯一一名排球女教练。她也是仅有的两名不止一次带队参加奥运会的排球女教练之一，另一位是前匈牙利的加布里拉•柯迪斯。

郎平说："执教两届奥运会对我来说是很特别的经历，我觉得我的很多老队友都有这个能力，只是我比较幸运罢了。"

对于24年里即将参加的第三次奥运会，郎平这一次的感觉要远远好于前两次。

她说："在上两次奥运会上，我感觉压力很大，但这次我感觉好多了，和队员在一起的每一天都很开心。或许是因为在过去的12年里我更成熟了，也可能是因为我已经学会了怎样面对压力。"

"奥运会只是一次大型的聚会，同时也是全世界的奥运会。大家一起好好享受奥运吧。"