There aren't many safe predictions going into an Olympic Games, but here's one: The U.S. women's volleyball team should be the most popular Americans in Beijing.

This has little to do with the team's prospects. It has everything to do with its coach, Beijing native "Jenny" Lang Ping, an icon in Chinese culture for leading China to an unexpected gold medal at the 1984 games in Los Angeles.

Lang Ping holds such an exalted position that her name is in Chinese history books. Her image has been on a postage stamp. Her wedding was on live TV.

Not that she'll tell you much about any of this. "I was embarrassed" is about all she'll say about the wedding, and asked if it's true about the postage stamp — part of her biography on the USA volleyball Web site — all she'll say is, "I guess so." Reluctantly.

"She doesn't like to talk about herself very much," said libero Nicole Davis, a USC graduate in her fifth year on the national team, four of them under Lang Ping. "Every once in a while, she'll crack a joke or if we're doing something, she'll say something about it.

"But we've heard stories about them closing down a mall so she and her daughter can go shopping. I've asked her about it and she says, No, no, that's not true.' "

Still, Davis has no doubts about the coach's popularity.

"People throw their children at her," she says. "People want to touch her. It's incredible. She's a demi-god."

The national team has played in China regularly since Lang Ping became coach, so Davis speaks from experience. She'd been "warned" about her coach's popularity before the team's first trip to China, but that didn't prepare her for the reality.

"We got off the plane," Davis recalls of that first trip, "and were trying to get our bags onto the bus and we were being pushed over by — I call them Chinese paparazzi, but they were just journalists — trying to get pictures of Jenny putting her bag in the bus. Is that really a media opportunity?"

It does seem difficult to imagine one volleyball player — even one with a world-class nickname like Lang Ping's "The Iron Hammer" — attaining such status. Davis says, as she understands it, it resulted from a perfect combination of achievement and timing.

"When they won the gold medal in '84," Davis explains, "it was in a time in China when the economy wasn't doing well; society in general was kind of in a lull, and they didn't really have a lot to look up to, I guess you could say. China went into the Olympics with really no expectations. And Jenny really led the team to a gold medal, and it was a bright and shining star. So she immediately became this huge celebrity, because she was more than a volleyball player. She represented China."

Traveling in China with someone with rock-star popularity may have the occasional drawback in terms of swarming photographers, but the volleyball team sees plenty of positives. Chinese fans wave American flags at their matches.

"That's very unusual," says Davis, "but I think it says a lot about the Chinese people and how they revere Jenny."

The team's every need, from scheduling to supplies, tends to be met quickly and efficiently.

"I think we're lucky in that regard," Davis says. "I think it will be a different experience for our team than it will for any other U.S. team going (to the Olympics) or for any other team in the world. I think, if we (win the) gold medal, it's still an accomplishment for them because of her."

The former Trojan has also found personal benefits to traveling in China with her coach.

There's been the opportunity to experience Chinese culture with a native, instead of from the tourist perspective. There's been the warmth of the public. ("We've gotten more bouquets of flowers than I've ever gotten from boyfriends," she says, laughing.) And there's been the shopping.

"I'd go into a store," Davis says, "and the price of a dress is like 500 yuan, and I'd say 200. They'd go, no.' "

So Davis would call her coach over.

"She's say 200. They'd say 300. She'd say 200. They'd say, OK.' I would get a flat no. No bargaining. They wouldn't even bargain with me. And then Jenny would walk in and get the same price."

On this trip to China, the U.S. team is hoping to come back with more than bargains. Davis believes Lang Ping will help with that, too.

"The last quadrennium, our team was ranked No. 1 in the world going into the Olympics," she recalls, "and there was a lot of media attention, a lot of expectations, and things didn't work out very well."

The team lost in the quarterfinals to Brazil, finishing out of the medal picture.

"This time around, there's going to be a lot of media attention surrounding Jenny, because of Jenny," Davis says, "but we have to just focus on playing. .... Normally, the less distractions, the better. So if the distraction's with her, we can stay calm and relaxed and play.g