With just days to go before the Beijing Olympics come to an end, it seems certain that China will top the medals table. ‘One world one dream’ is the games' motto, and for the hosts, the dream seems to be coming true.

Sport has become an obsession for the Chinese. Ever since Beijing won the race to host the 2008 Olympics seven years ago, billions of US dollars have been spent on preparations – both for constructing transport links and sports venues.

Beijing Olympic Committee spokesperson, Liu Yan, says the nation has been “working very hard on bringing the Olympics here and making it organizationally perfect.”

“The best thing about it is that all the venues built for the games will stay after they finish and will be used to develop sports in China,” Yan said.

And the hard work has paid off. The Chinese were quick out of the blocks, going on a golden rampage and winning in sports they previously weren't particularly strong at. Forty top medals in ten days is something few had expected.

Weightlifter Oksana Slivenko was one of the Russian team's biggest hopes. A world record holder, European and World champion, she was expected to take gold without too much resistance. But Oksana ended up with silver, losing to China's Liu Chunhung.

“When we saw her initial claimed weights (which were good for Olympic records), we were a bit disconcerted. Well, anyway, the results were very different from what we had expected during the preparations,” Oksana Slivenko said.

Reports came through that the Chinese weightlifter was given a $US 1.5 million reward for that gold. But Oksana hardly believes in this motivation. She had met Liu in competitions many times before and never had any problems winning against her.

“When you pile up, like, ten kilos on top of a world record, it’s shocking. It’s like shaving a whole second off a runner’s result. Perhaps they have discovered something new that allows them to show progress like that. Well, as a matter of fact, I can’t say it’s something illegal, because they undergo doping tests and they have never tested positive yet,” Oksana says.

The team's weightlifting coach lashed out at the Chinese, claiming the team could have been doped. And losers from other teams were also suspicious of the host’s success. Some even spoke of secret pharmacological technologies used by the triumphant Chinese.

As the Chinese continue to storm the medal tables, doubters continue to express their concerns.

But Oksana Slivenko is among those who say that even if the Chinese did pull some illegal tricks, it mustn’t be forgotten that it is their Olympics.