Gymnasts on redemption mission

Biggest rival

Miao says China's biggest opponent in the men's competition is Japan's leader and superstar, Kohei Uchimura.

The three-time Olympic champion, widely considered one of the greatest male gymnasts of his generation, will be hoping home advantage can make the difference in his gold-medal hunt.

"As the host and also a traditional powerhouse, Japan is the biggest rival for our athletes. Uchimura has proved he is the best in the world. We have to do the best to challenge him," said Miao.

"As long as we perform to our best, like what we have done in training, we fear nobody."

On the women's side, uneven bars world champion Fan Yilin will join newly crowned national all-around champion Lu Yufei and balance beam starlet Guan Chenchen, along with Ou Yushan, Zhang Jin and Tang Xijing. Fan is the only female member of China's squad who has previous Olympic experience.

She failed to advance to the final round in Rio because of a major error in qualifying, although later managed to lead the women's team to bronze.

Fan has been in superb form ever since that Rio failure, and now feels ready for redemption in the event. "I hope I won't have any regrets this time," said the 22-year-old.

Fan's father admits that 22 is not a young age for a gymnast these days, and hopes his daughter can wrap up her career in winning style.

"Performing at Olympics has always been her biggest dream," said Fan Bingzhu. "It won't be long until she retires as a gymnast. I hope she can win an individual medal at her last Olympic Games. That would be a perfect ending for her career."

Balance beam is also traditionally a strong event for China, and 17-year-old prodigy Guan's impressive routines at the Olympic trials suggest she could reign in Tokyo.

"Guan has showed the world top-level difficulty in the balance beam. She has the ability to fight for the gold for us," said Qiao Liang, women's team head coach. "Our team is very young but is the best we can choose from."

The eyes of the world will be on defending Olympic women's all-around champion Simone Biles.

The American, who has won every all-around competition she has taken part in since 2013, won five medals in Rio, including all-around gold, and is predicted to improve on that in Tokyo.