After winning the gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, China's short-track speed skater Wang Meng was considered to be a national hero.

But at the Asian Winter Games one year later, the feisty young Olympic champion attacked team coach Li Yan in the press and was banned from competing at the World Championships.

Now, a newly matured Wang has come back.

China's Wang Meng smiles at the press conference after she won the women's 500m short track speed skating at the 6th Winter Asian Games January 30, 2007. [Xinhua] Wang has once again proved herself to be a team leader after winning three gold medals at the opening stop of this season's ISU (International Skating Union) Short Track Speed Skating World Cup series in Harbin, the capital city of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

"Now I'm the veteran on the team, so I want to do my best in each race to encourage my young teammates with my fighting spirit," said the 22-year-old Wang. "I will think more before I do things. I hope to set a good example for my fellow skaters."

Wang has indeed been a good example.

At the World Cup series stop in Harbin last weekend, Wang claimed three gold medals in the women's 500m, 1,000m and 3,000m relay, winning all the events she took part in and beating her arch-rival, South Korean Jin Sun-yu.

Encouraged by Wang's victory, her young teammates Zhou Yang and Liu Qiuhong grabbed two bronze medals in both women's 1,500m.

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