The earthquake-devastated Sichuan Province is sending its athletes to all over China to resume training, Sichuan sports chief said on Thursday.

Sports director Zhu Ling told Xinhua that many provinces and municipalities have offered to host Sichuan athletes after the 8.0-magnitude earthquake on May 12 killed over 40,000 in the southwestern Chinese province.

Sichuan has 500 athletes on the provincial teams of various sports, including a dozen who were in Sichuan preparing for the Beijing Olympics when the deadly quake hit.

No athlete was killed or injured in the quake, Zhu said.

Sichuan's leading track and field athletes, including Olympics-bound Liu Jing, Asian Games women's 100m hurdles champion, and men's triple jumper Gu Junjie, had left for Beijing to compete in the "Good Luck Beijing" Olympic athletics test event which opens on Thursday.

"They will stay in Beijing for training after the test event," said Zhu.

Sichuan's gymnasts and Wushu players are leaving for Guangxi for training while Hubei will host Sichuan's badminton team, according to Zhu.

Shandong will host Sichuan's wrestling, swimming, diving and women's soccer teams while Yunnan takes in the volleyball teams, Shanghai the synchronized team, Guizhou the table tennis teams, said the sports director.

The Sichuan Sports Institute based in the provincial capital of Chengdu, which used to gather two thirds of the provincial-level athletes, has a few gymnasiums and dormitory buildings listed as "hazardous buildings", said Zhang Rongwei, principal of the institute.

Zhang admitted most athletes who resumed training after the earthquake were in low spirits.

"For their safety and better concentration, we have to move the athletes out of the province," said Zhang.

(Xinhua News Agency May 22, 2008)