Ever wondered why Liu Xiang can run so fast? Why Guo Jingjing is so agile and can enter the water so smoothly? Why the Chinese women's basketball team spikes the ball so well? The answer was inadvertently revealed on CCTV last night. A report that followed Chinese president Hu Jintao and a few other party and government representatives as they toured the training facilities of China's Olympic athletes leaked the tightly kept secret that has puzzled competitors for decades. While some have put the achievements of various Chinese athletes down to a mixture of a grueling training regime, innate ability, rising living standards and perhaps even (see the adidas ads) the support of hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens, we can finally reveal what the secret ingredient really is. The video editors had been doing so well too, they'd edited out the "secret move" from the China's synchronized swimming team's performance for Hu, so that competitors wouldn't be able to cull any clues as to what wonderful and unimagined moves the girls are going to be pulling out come August. They also remembered to make sure that the men's basketball team were seated when they chatted to the officials, but they forgot to snip one important section from Hu Jintao's visit to the athlete's canteen.

There it was, center screen, a big plate of steaming Hongshao Rou! President Hu made sure to impress on the chefs the importance of what they were doing, by providing the vital Hongshao Rou (we're surprised that we can't find an official English translation for the dish) for the athletes, they were ensuring that the Chinese team would bring home a whole truckload of gold medals. He went so far to offer the honorary "xinku le", which is also used by the president in a ritual thanking of the armed forces for their contribution to defending the motherland. Proof, if any more was needed, of the importance of Mao's favorite dish to the success of Chinese athletes.

Links and Sources
Shanghai Daily: President Hu boosts morale of country's Olympians as Games near
NetEase: 胡锦涛习近平到国家体育总局考察奥运备战
Youku: 视频: 胡锦涛总书记考察奥运备战,关心询问姚明脚伤
The Beijinger: No More Chickens Without a Sex Life