medal-laden Olympic

Australia's medal-laden Olympic team appealed to the government for more money to ensure it repeats its Athens performance and retains fourth place in the medal tally at the Beijing Games.

"It's not rocket science," Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates told reporters.

"They're going to have to find some more money if they want us to be there (in the top five)."

Coates warned the new Labour government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd that it would be punished come election time if Japan or Germany finished ahead in Beijing.

"I don't think the Australian public will take kindly if we suddenly drop off again and fall out of the top 10." Coates said.

"The Australian public are very proud of the performances our athletes have been achieving, so I'm hoping that's understood."

Australia finished fourth behind the United States, China and Russia at the Athens Game with Japan fifth and Germany sixth. The team won 17 gold medals in Athens, a national record.

Coates is angling for continued lavish funding for the world-famous Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), a campus in Canberra inspired by state-supported institutions in the former Soviet Union.

Australia sent 475 athletes to Athens, the second largest contingent after that of the US.

Australia has finished in the top 10 in 11 of the 14 Olympics of the modern era. In terms of its 21 million population, Australia was the second-best per-capita performer after the Bahamas.

Analysts estimated that taxpayers paid out 5 million US dollars for each Olympic medal won in Athens.
FUZHOU, Fujian, May 10 (Xinhua) -- A chartered plane carrying the flame landed at Fuzhou Changle International Airport in the South East China's Fujian province at 8:35 pm on Saturday after the torch ended its tour in Guangdong province in south China.

The Olympic torch relay in Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian, is the first stop in the province, and will begin at 8:10 a.m. local time at Wuyi Square on Sunday, with 208 torchbearers running through 28 kilometers.

As the relay route in Fuzhou is entitled "cultural tour" , the itinerary will snake through a number of historical sites and ancient architectures, demonstrating the coastal feature and profound historical background of the city.

After tour of Fuzhou, the Olympic torch is set to carry on its relay in port city Quanzhou, the second stop in Fujian province on MondaZara Phillips, a granddaughter of the Queen, has been selected for England's Olympic equestrian team and will compete in eventing at the Beijing Olympics.

The 26-year-old Phillips will be joined by William Fox- Pitt, a silver team medalist at the 2004 Athens Games, Sharon Hunt, Mary King and Lucy Wiegersma, the British Olympic Association said in a statement on its website. Philips will be riding Toytown, with whom she won both the individual European and World Championship eventing titles.

Phillips, 12th in line to the throne, is the daughter of Princess Anne, who took part in the eventing competition at the 1976 Montreal Games. Zara's father, Mark Phillips, won a gold medal at the 1972 Munich Games in the same event, and is the coach of the U.S. eventing team.
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"It is nice to be selected, but we still have a long way to go," Phillips said. "I am lucky in that Toytown has been to championship events before, so he knows about big occasions and has been consistent, but an Olympic Games really is special."

The Olympic eventing competition is made up of three disciplines: dressage, show jumping and cross-country.