Olympic hurdler Liu Xiang is going for
glory in front of a Chinese-strong crowd
in Beijing.
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He won't be alone.
China is expected to dominate a host of disciplines and rake in multiple gold medals in shooting, diving, table tennis, badminton, weightlifting, gymnastics and judo.
Its mountain bikers and beach volleyball players are also storming up the world rankings.
China's divers won seven of eight gold medals on offer at the World Cup event in Beijing in February, with the jewel in the crown, Guo Jingjing, considered one of the best platform divers in history.
Chinese shooters are expected to notch the nation's first gold medal on the first day of competition, but experts are tipping a lot more with 10m rifle specialist and Athens gold medallist Du Li a hot tip to repeat.
China has four dominant female weightlifters - including reigning 58kg champ Chen Yanqing - and the men's team is not far behind with two more gold tipped to come their way.
In gymnastics, China is hellbent on making amends for winning just one gold in Athens.
Dual Olympic gold medallist Li Xiaopeng's return from injury boosts the men's squad in both all-round team and individual events, while another star is Yang Wei who fell on the parallel bars in Athens but won a host of gold medals at the 2006 world titles.
The Chinese revere their table tennis stars as Australians treat their footy heroes and 28-year-old Wang Liqin is the ping-pong king.
Wang is one of the most stylish and popular athletes in China and recently dated movie star Zhao Wei. China is expected to win all four table tennis gold medals on offer in Beijing, with the women's team having players ranked one, three and four in the world.
Sydney Olympic badminton champion Lin Dan - "Super Dan" to his legion of fans - is the world No.1 and favourite in Beijing with the bulk of the five gold medals on offer expected to stay with the host nation.