The Olympics loves a redemption story and while the British will be hoping Paula Radcliffe can make up for her Athens heartbreak, the Chinese will be rooting for Yang Wie to finally capture gymnastics all-round gold.

Yang does have an Olympic gold medal to his name, as he was a member of the victorious China team at the Sydney Olympics. But an individual gold has thus far eluded him.

At the 2000 Olympics he performed above expectations to take the all-round silver, which ensured that he went to Athens four years later as one of the favourites.

In Greece he looked all set to pick up the gold when he took command of the all-round event, but saw his dreams slip away after a heartbreaking fall on the high bar.

Furthermore, a disastrous performance by China in the team event meant that he left Athens empty-handed - like marathon favourite Radcliffe, who failed to complete the race.

It was not until 2006 that Yang returned to form, when he again showed his undoubted quality with a superb performance at the Aarhus World Championships, taking gold in the team, parallel bars and all-round competitions.

He backed up that performance at last year's World Championship in Stuttgart, where he again won all-round gold and again helped China take the team competition.

Now for Beijing and the extra pressure that comes with competing at home.

Yang has the chance to secure his legacy as a true great of the sport, and the all-round title will again be the one he wants to win.

However, he could do even better than that as he has already proven with World Championship medals in three individual disciplines.

No matter what happens later this year, Yang's story at the Beijing Olympics will certainly be one worth following.

Seán Fay / Eurosport