BEIJING, 23 May - Comments from gold medallist Xu Song (CHN, PLA), silver medallist Zhang Haikun (CHN, SHH) and bronze medallist Zou Meng (CHN, GGD) at the men's 1500m press conference at the National Stadium on Friday.

Xu Song (CHN, PLA) - gold medallist
On his performance:
"I am happy with my performance. My advantage is the final sprint. And I am also lucky."

On the stadium:
"The design is novel. It is semi-closed and I have seen it before. It is magnificent."

On the gap between the Chinese level and the international standard:
"The ideas guiding our training are out of date and should be changed. The coaches are generally experience-based. They are reluctant to accept new concepts. Although we are physically different from foreigh athletes, I believe we can do better jobs if new concept are introduced and accepted."

Zhang Haikun (CHN, SHH) - silver medallist
On the gap between the Chinese level and the international standard:
"Chinese athletes are physically different. Red blood cell in our body is lower. This is a great hinderance to our performance. However, we can improve our sprinting part."

Zou Meng (CHN, GGD) - bronze medallist
On the National Stadium:
"The tracks are flat and bouncy, it is comfortable to run on. The lights are fantastic which make the audience excited."

On his target:
"Xu Song is the champion of the previous national tournament. My target is to overtake him."