Su Bingtian celebrates after winning his race in the men's 100 meters semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics on August 1. Photo: IC

 

Editor's Note:

Since 21-year-old sharpshooter Yang Qian won the first gold medal for the Chinese delegation at the Tokyo Olympics on Day 1, the Games has witnessed plenty of breakthroughs for Team China. 



Highlighted by their achievements in athletics and swimming, two sports that China has traditionally been considered minnows in at the Summer Olympics, the breakthrough has made an impact: It is the first time since 2004 that the flag bearer for the Chinese delegation at the closing ceremony was not a gold medalist, but sprinter Su Bingtian. 

Here are the highlights of China's breakthroughs at the Tokyo Olympics.

New high in athletics 

Chinese track and field athletes have set a new high at the Tokyo Olympics, winning two gold, two silver and one bronze medal for the Chinese delegation.

Sprinter Su Bingtian did not win an individual ­medal, but did make the most astonishing achievement for Chinese athletic athletes after clocking an Asian record-setting 9.83-second finish in the men's 100 meters. Improving on his previous personal best by 0.08 seconds and making it into the final - the first Asian athlete to do so in nine decades - Su was named the flag bearer of the Chinese delegation at the closing ceremony.

Though Su said he is unlikely to further lower his record, as he is now 32, his achievement has already inspired many young athletes in China to take to the track.

Xie Zhenye, the Chinese 200-meter specialist, made it into the semis in the 200 meters, but failed to qualify for the final. Xie, who holds the Asian record of 19.88 seconds in the 200 meters, was applauded for his breakthrough. 

Spearheaded by Su and Xie, the men's 4x100 meters relay team finished fourth with a national record-equaling 37.79 seconds in a fiercely competitive final, with their female counterparts finishing sixth in the women's final - a best result for the team. 

Chinese runners react after the women's 4x100 meters final on Friday. Photo: Cui Meng/Global Times

The track events also saw runner Wang Chunyu become the first Chinese athlete to reach the 800 meters final with her personal best of one minute, 57 seconds - finishing in fifth place - setting a new record for China.

In the men's marathon, China's Yang Shaohui finished in two hours, 14 minutes and 58 seconds, sitting in 19th place in the overall ranking, the best result and place for a Chinese marathon runner at an Olympics.  

Triple jumper Zhu Yaming set a new record for China by winning a silver medal with his personal best of 17.57 meters. His teammate Fang Yaoqing finished eighth with 17.01 meters. 

First javelin gold

In the field competitions, veteran Gong Lijiao won her first Olympic gold medal in the women's shot put with 20.58 meters, seeing her 21-year career culminate with the most prestigious prize in her fourth Olympic appearance. 

Liu Shiying stunned the world by finishing the women's javelin throw with a sensational 66.34 meters to win gold, a remarkable breakthrough for China in the discipline. Teammate and veteran Lü Huihui finished in fifth place.

Women's javelin gold medalist Liu Shiying reacts on the podium on Saturday. Photo: IC

In the women's hammer throw, China's Wang Zheng scored a season-best 77.03 meters to bag a silver medal for China. Her result was just short of three-time Olympian Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland. 

Naturalized heptathlon athlete Zheng Ninali completed her maiden Olympics with a 10th-place finish in the women's heptathlon, raising hopes that she might achieve a better result in future Olympics. 

By inviting some foreign coaches and introducing new technologies including wind tunnels to improve Chinese athletes' performances, the athletics squad has demonstrated that Chinese athletes are capable of competing with the best in the world.

"China has been on an upward trajectory for a number of years across many more disciplines," World Athletics President Sebastian Coe told reporters at a press conference on Sunday.

"You've seen the strength in endurance events. Chinese relay teams now are extremely competitive. You have seen the bandwidth of talent that has emerged and is emerging in the field as well. Su Bingtian is a really good example of the progress that is now being made in the short distances."

With the next Olympics just three years away, the Chinese delegation is expecting more contributions from Chinese track and field athletes for the next Olympic Games.  

Making splashes 

Ahead of the Olympics, no one predicted that female swimmer Zhang Yufei would lead China's swimming charge in Tokyo, yet she bagged two gold and two silver medals to bring back to China.

Zhang Yufei competes in the women's 200 meters butterfly competition on July 29 in Tokyo. Photo: IC

Zhang won her first Olympic gold in Tokyo in two minutes and 3.86 seconds in the women's 200 meters butterfly, shaving 0.2 seconds off the Olympic record set by compatriot Jiao Liuyang at the London Games in 2012. 

Her performance was dominating, as she finished more than a body length ahead of two American swimmers, Regan Smith and Hali Flickinger.

Less than an hour later, the 23-year-old returned to the pool for the 4x200 meters freestyle relay, which she wasn't originally planned for and never expected to win - a race originally expected to be a battle between swimming powerhouses the US and Australia. 

Zhang Yufei poses with the four medals she won at the Tokyo Olympics on August 1. Photo: IC

Spearheaded by Zhang, the Chinese ­women's relay team, which also includes freestyle specialists Tang Muhan, Yang Junxuan and Li Bingjie - a bronze medalist in the 400 meters freestyle - clocked a new world record with seven minutes, 40.33 seconds that stunned swimming stars including Ariarne Titmus of Australia and Katie Ledecky of the US. 

Ahead of the two gold medals in one morning, Zhang, who had never claimed any major international title before the Tokyo Olympics, bagged a silver medal in the women's 100 meters butterfly in 55.64 seconds, only 0.05 seconds off the pace of gold medalist Margaret MacNeil of Canada.

Though Zhang along with her teammates were stunned in the mixed 4x100 meters relay by the British athletes with a new world record, a silver medal in the discipline has also received wide applause from the fans. 

Zhang was once considered an outsider in the women's butterfly as the discipline was ­dominated by European elites including Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden and Katinka Hosszu of Hungary. 

Zhang's best showing in three appearances at previous World Championships was third. Her previous outing in the Olympics saw her finish sixth in the women's 200 meters butterfly in Rio 2016. But the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics allowed her the time to improve, as her coach Cui Dengrong required her to focus on 100 meters butterfly training, though her main competition remains for 200 meters.

It turns out the 100 meters sprint training worked out, as Zhang's performance improved massively at the national trials in September 2020, which laid the foundation of the achievements of the new "Butterfly Queen" in Tokyo. 

The other Chinese gold medalist in swimming is Wang Shun, a third-time Olympian who focuses on the individual medley.

Sportsmanship

A bronze medalist in Rio in 2016, Wang clocked the 200 meters individual medley with a new Asian record-setting 1:55.00 to win the gold medal. His win convinced competitor Duncan Scott of the UK, the silver medalist who congratulated Wang with a "Good job!" on the podium. 

Wang Shun celebrates after winning the men's 200 meters individual medley final on July 30. Photo: IC

 What's more, sportsmanship also is important for Wang. He expressed his respect by a bow to Hungarian veteran Laszlo Cseh, whose career was largely overshadowed by US swimming legend Michael Phelps. The move was applauded worldwide.  

Now quarantined in hotels in China, the swimmers have set their sights on domestic competitions at the National Games, scheduled to be held in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province in September.