BEIJING • When China competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Games he organized, Peter Ueberroth took pride in helping the country make its Olympic return.

The first gold medal of those Olympics was won by Chinese shooter Xu Haifeng in 50-meter pistol. Fourteen golds followed for the Chinese, and Ueberroth was left in disbelief.

“Wow, these guys are good,” the U.S. Olympic Committee chairman said he thought at the time.

Nearly 25 years later, China has gone from good to great.

The upstart Chinese, strong in nontraditional sports like badminton, table tennis and taekwondo and stronger in mainstream sports such as diving and indoor volleyball, are favored to win the gold medal count in the Beijing Games that start in earnest Friday.

It’s no surprise, considering China has increased its gold medal count and total medal tally each of the past three Summer Games, going from 16 golds and 50 medals in Atlanta in 1996 to 32 golds and 63 medals in Athens in 2004.

Plus, home-field advantage might give China the boost it needs to get past the U.S., winners in gold medals and total medals the past three Summer Games, and Russia, consistent contenders in boxing, wrestling and track and field.

“We’re not used to being an underdog in the Olympic Games,” Ueberroth said Wednesday. “We’ll get used to that, and we’ll do our best.”

In 2001, the gap between the U.S. and China began to narrow when the Chinese Olympic Committee invented “Project 119,” tabbed for the number of golds that previously existed in track and field, swimming and other water sports. The initiative aimed to eliminate China’s glaring weaknesses.

It’s partially working, evidenced by the four golds China won in Athens in Project 119 sports — two in track and field, one in swimming and one in canoe/kayak. China had one gold in Project 119 disciplines at the 2000 Sydney Games.

“The majority of the pollsters are picking China to win the gold medal count,” said Jim Scherr, chief executive officer of the Colorado Springs-based USOC. “We certainly believe they have a strong team here. We have a strong team here as well. We make no predictions about whether we will be first or second or third in the medal count.”

To top China, the U.S. must continue to excel in its marquee sports — gymnastics behind Morgan Hamm and Shawn Johnson, swimming behind Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin and track and field behind Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix.

It needs golds in men’s and women’s basketball, softball and women’s soccer, which lost to Norway 2-0 in Wednesday’s opener. And it needs another gold from Olympic Training Center shooter Matt Emmons, perhaps the best medal hope in a 56-person Colorado Springs contingent.

“We look at this as a three-country race, with China leading the way,” said Steve Roush, chief of sport performance for the USOC. “It’s going to be a matter of what happens every day of the Games. You’re going to find medals coming that are surprises, and you’re going to have some disappointments.”

A huge cairn beckons to hikers on a ridge on Culebra Peak. Photo by