The Chinese athletes should not be focused only on gold medals but on the experiences earned during the World University Games,a Chinese sports official said on Saturday.

Duan Shijie,Chef de Mission of the Chinese delegation,said that the Chinese athletes and coaches should take the ongoing Daegu Universiade as a trial for the Chinese athletes as they looked to strike good results at the Athens Olympic Games next year.

"Our ultimate goal is to perform well in Athens and all we do now is to serve this purpose,"said Duan,who is also vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games in 2008.

"Though the university games are less significant than the Olympics,they carry an 'Olympic atmosphere'with their large scale in programs and the athletes from all around the world.

"So we pay more attention to the learning process of the athletes at the Universiade rather than gold medals,"he said.

China set a goal of 10gold medals at the 22nd version of the Universiade while they topped the medal tally with 54golds in Beijing two years ago.

Duan said the Chinese athletes should cherish the opportunity here after they missed many international events early this year due to the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)in the country.

"It is necessary for the athletes to attend more events for experience,and they should bring all their potential to a full display here,"he added.