To the Games hosts, it was the perfect chance to showcase treatments developed long before the Ancient Greeks met to compete in Olympia. So it is that, for the first time in Olympic history, the athletes' village is equipped with a clinic offering traditional Chinese treatments.

Reports suggest that the initiative is proving to be a success. Sui Ma, a practitioner at the clinic, told The Times: “We have had many athletes coming in. Some have come in with old traumas that perhaps haven't been recognised. Also, because it's a very strong competition, many people have new injuries.”

The clinic has four acupuncturists from the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. The Beijing Massage Hospital has also supplied four of its finest traditional masseuses. Speaking from the hospital in Central Beijing, Jin Tao said: “They are working shifts and they are rushed off their feet. I haven't seen them since they started working there last month.”

Tony Smith, the coach of the Canadian gymnastics team, told the state newspaper China Daily that he was astonished when a niggling pain in his back vanished after a single acupuncture session. “It really does work,” he said. “I will definitely recommend it to my athletes.”

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