Although the 2008 Olympics is still five years away, a 3 million-yuan (US$360,000) luxury villa has been promised to a future Chinese champion as a reward, reports Beijing Morning Post.

The decision was announced by the 2003 China Villa Conference on Tuesday afternoon.

The organizer, China Villa Web, first invited conference attendees to guess the total number of gold medals China will win at the 2008 Games. The most likely number was estimated to be 39.

Then, in a random selection from the numbers between 1 and 39, 37 was chosen, meaning that the 37th gold-medal winner among Chinese athletes competing at the games would become the owner of the villa.

A back-up plan has also been prepared on the chance that a team earns the 37th gold medal or the total does not reach that figure.

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