Dominant China put Asia on top of the world at the Beijing Olympics but the pressure is on as it bids to repeat the feat away from home.

When London 2012 gets into full swing on Saturday, China will be the nation to beat after it overhauled the United States at the summit of the medals table for the first time.

China was aided by home advantage, massive funding and a giant team in 2008 but it now faces the challenge of staying ahead of the pack in very different conditions on foreign soil.

It highlighted a positive Games for Asia-Pacific countries with Australia, South Korea and Japan also in the top 10 and India winning its first ever individual gold medal.

This year, China has slashed its team to 396 - down from 639 in Beijing - which is now preparing at various venues around Europe.

Star hurdler Liu Xiang was forced to leave Britain and train in Germany this month after a spell of cold, wet weather. "Other Chinese teams have also chosen to move their base thanks to London's cold weather, so Liu Xiang is not the only one," Liu's coach Sun Haiping said.

There are also concerns over China's gymnasts after former world and Olympic champion Teng Haibin hurt his forearm while training in Northern Ireland, following an earlier injury to team captain Chen Yibing. However, other competitors seem happy with their preparations and it would be a major surprise if China did not at least finish in the top two for the third consecutive time.

Second fastest

Liu is second fastest in the world over 110m hurdles this year, putting him in the frame to challenge for gold eight years after his victory in Athens.

China is likely to win all four table tennis gold medals and has a strong chance of sweeping the eight diving categories, alongside the badminton titles. It is also world-beaters in weightlifting and shooting. But China is also expected to star in the pool - led by distance specialist Sun Yang - as it looks to make its mark in the more popular, mainstream sports also, including tennis, where Li Na is a women's medal hope.

Australia is hoping its swimmers, spearheaded by sprint sensation James Magnussen, and cyclists can put it back in the top five after it dropped two places to sixth in Beijing.

Japan is targeting a record haul of more than 16 gold medals to boost its bid to host the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

Gymnast Kohei Uchimura is unbeaten since his all-round silver at Beijing, Kosuke Kitajima is seeking a third straight men's 100m and 200m breaststroke double, and Japan's 'Nadeshiko' are the reigning women's world football champions. South Korea has a more modest goal of 10 gold medals and a top-10 finish.

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