DOHA, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Newly-recruited Chinese national women's gymnastics team head coach Qiao Liang, a Chinese American, said here Thursday that he is keen on introducing some of the "American attitude" toward youth sports by bringing some fun to the gym.

Qiao, 50, who was born in Beijing and moved to the United States in his 20s, took over the Chinese team this year. He was notable for being the coach of 2008 Olympic balance beam champion Shawn Johnson and 2012 Olympic individual all-around champion Gabby Douglas. He also contributed to the dominant four-gold performance of the American women's gymnastics team at the Rio Olympics.

"I'm promoting 'happy Gymnastics' and 'happy sports' instead of just only hard work," said Qiao who is with the Chinese team at the world gymnastics championships, which are set to start in Doha, Qatar on Thursday.

"We are still at the beginning of our journey, and we have a long way to go yet," Qiao was quoted by the official website of the world championshps as saying. "It's a very challenging year. We will try our best."