Pictured: The athlete who could go blind because Chinese officials are forcing him to go for Olympic gold

Hu Jia, a gold medal-winning diver, had announced only three weeks ago that he would not take part because of a ‘long-term injury'.

But reports from  Beijing yesterday said he is  back training and  competing harder than ever in a bid to boost China's medal hopes.

Injury risk: Jia Hu, left, and Linguang Yang, perform a synchronized dive

Medal hope: Tom Daley will represent Team GB in Diving at this summers Olympics in Beijing

Official insistence that he dive despite the risks is likely to  knock Britain’s 14-year-old  wonder boy Tom  Daley’s chances of getting among the medals.

Hu performed  brilliantly to take  gold in Athens in 2004 and is expected to be  clear  favourite for gold in Beijing if he competes. He won two silver  medals at the  2000 Sydney Olympics.

But experts warned that competing could turn the 25-year-old 10-metre board champion blind.

In 2005, Hu  suffered a detached retina in  one eye and damaged the retina in the other -  injuries caused by the repeated  impact with the water from 35ft up during 12  years of training under the  intensive Chinese coaching system.   

A study in 2000 revealed that a quarter of  Chinese divers have had retina  injuries because of the intensive training and  lack of screening for eye  disorders. That is far more than any other nation.

Hu  was taken from his  parents and sent to a sports training camp when he was  10.
As he started  training for Beijing last year, Hu told Chinese reporters:  ‘The  Beijing Olympics is an enormous glory to our generation.’

Speaking of going   for a second gold medal, he added: ‘I will do my utmost to grab one, unless my   eyes are really blind.’

Observers say  China is determined to beat  the United States in  Beijing and   finish the Games with most medals. To achieve that authorities are said to be   pressuring competitors to train ever harder, and forcing injured stars to keep   going.

Liu Xiang, who  became a national hero and China’s most popular sports star  when he won the  110-metres men’s hurdles in Athens also feels pressured.

His  coach told  China Daily, the official English-language newspaper: ‘Officials  from the State  General Administration of Sport once told us that if Liu cannot  win another gold  medal in Beijing, all of his previous achievements will   become meaningless.’

Lu Yuanzhen, a  professor of sports sociology at the Academy of Sports   Sciences at South China Normal University, told the New York Times that if the   country’s athletes do not win in Beijing, ‘the entire nation and its people  will  lose face.’