BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- You won't find many major doping scandals or judging controversies in ski jumping, only a major shift at the top of the competitive ladder in Turin, Italy.

    During the 2002 Salt Lake Games, Simon Ammann was Switzerland'shero after winning gold medals in both the normal and large hill events.

    Times have certainly changed for the Swiss great. Ammann, 30, not only failed to reach the podium at the 2003 and 2005 World Championships, he hasn't finished in the top 10 of the World Cup standings for last three years.

    While competitors like Norway's Roar Ljoekelsoey, Matti Hautamaeki of Finland and Poland's Adam Malysz all have a legitimate chance of winning gold, the title battle in Turin looksset to be a tale of two between Finland's Janne Ahonen and Jakub Janda of the Czech Republic.

    Ahonen captured the last two World Cup titles in dominating fashion. The defending world champion in the large hill won 12 events last year and his popularity in Finland has grown to rock star status. Ahonen was so superior in the 2004-05 season that he beat second-placed Ljoekelsoey by 275 points.

    But this season Janda launched a serious challenge to Ahonen's supremacy as the Czech cruised to victory in five World Cup races.

    Earlier this month, Ahonen and Janda shared the title in the prestigious Four Hills tournament. It was the first time there hadbeen two winners in the 54-year history of the four-stage event, which is believed to be a preview of the Olympics.

    Though China is a powerhouse in summer Olympic sports such as table tennis and diving, the country has to wait until the Turin Games to make its debut in ski jumping. A lack of funding had prevented China from grooming potential Olympians for decades.

    Under the sponsorship of Gericom, an Austrian computer company,five Chinese skiers were selected to train in Austria in April 2003. They have made some inroads over the past two years. Tian Zhandong, 22, became the first Chinese to accumulate World Cup ranking points last season by courtesy of a 48th-place effort in Austria.

    Still, China will field a young and inexperienced team to Turin.

    Though the Chinese skiers are outsiders in the most dramatic ofall winter Olympic events, they hope to use the Turin experience as a springboard to the 2010 Vancouver Games.

    "We need time to catch up with other countries," said Koch Heinz, China's Austrian coach. "There is a long way to go." Enditem