Yao plays down Olympic chances

Yao Ming is remaining cautious as he continues his bid to play in the Olympics following foot surgery.

The 7ft 6in Houston Rockets centre had an operation in March after suffering a stress fracture to his left foot but began running again last week.

"I don't want to push that too much because we need to do that in a safe way, but the Olympics are only 70-some days to go," Yao said.

Yao also stressed China's immediate focus should remain on the emergency effort following the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan province, rather than the Games.

"Number one right now is to save people's lives," he added. "On May 12 people forgot about the Olympics. People forgot about the torch."

"Let's focus the government and the people on saving as many lives as we can."

"We still lost a lot. We will limit the celebration a little bit because of those we lost."