US gymnast Kevin Tan, who is of Chinese decent, said on Thursday that he was excited about being "back to China" and competing at the August 8-24 Beijing Olympics.

"It's my first trip to China and it is really exciting to come back as an Olympian," Tan said shortly after arriving at the Beijing international airport with a group of American athletes.

The native of Fremont, California is a three-time member of US teams to the World Gymnastics Championships and the best American on still rings.

Apart from the team event, Tan will compete on the pommel horse, still rings, parallel bars and high bar in Beijing this summer.

"As soon as I learned I made the Olympic team in June, I told the news to my parents, who were very excited," the 27-year-old said, adding that competing at the Olympics was his long-held dream and his father, a software engineer, would fly to China to watch him play.

Tan said it was hard to say what goal he had for the Games but his performance would speak for him. "Chinese gymnasts, especially Li Xiaopeng and Chen Yibing, are very strong."

The Chinese-American was also named captain of the US men's gymnastics team earlier this month. His duty as captain is to stay in contact with the coaches and keep his teammates well informed.

(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2008)