Photo:Cui Meng/GT

With resounding applause and cheers echoing throughout the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium, the COC held a medal presentation ceremony on Wednesday evening for Chinese athletes who won bronze in the men's 4×100m relay at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and the medalist in the women's 20km race walks at the London 2012 Olympics, after the athletics competitions in the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province.

"I am very proud, this medal is a milestone for our Chinese athletics and it was not easy to achieve. Our relay team has not had outstanding results at the Olympics before, so winning this medal has left a mark for Chinese athletics in the world," said 30-year-old Chinese sprinter Xie Zhenye in an interview with the Global Times on Wednesday.

In February 2022, the Court of Arbitration for Sport officially recognized Chinese relay athletes Su Bingtian, Xie, Wu Zhiqiang and Tang Xingqiang as the recipient of the bronze medal in the men's 4x100-meter relay at the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021. This decision came as a result of a retrospective penalty imposed on Team Great Britain after a hearing found that the team's first-leg runner, Chijindu Ujah, had violated anti-doping regulations.

Photo:Cui Meng/GT

On May 19, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made an announcement confirming that Team China would be awarded the bronze medal. This achievement marked China's first Olympic medal in a relay event and their second overall in a sprint event, following retired track star Liu Xiang's gold medal win in the men's 110m hurdles at the 2004 Games in Athens.

Xie also expressed his optimism for the future. "I hope this honor will be a legacy and set a good goal for the new team [participating in the Hangzhou Asian Games] to work towards next year [at the Paris 2024 Olympics], what we were able to do before, I'm sure they will be able to do even better in the future," he said at a press conference after winning the Game's men's 4x100m relay on Tuesday.

Photo:Cui Meng/GT

Meanwhile, in March of this year, the IOC announced that the gold medalist in the women's 20km race walk at the London Olympics had been disqualified also due to doping violations. The top eight places in the event have been adjusted accordingly. Team China's Qieyang Shijie, Liu Hong, and Lu Xiuzhi, who respectively won gold, silver, and bronze medals in the women's 20km race walks at the London Olympics.

Bagging a gold medal more than a decade late, Qieyang from Northwest China's Qinghai Province became the first Tibetan Olympic champion.

On Wednesday morning, Team China completed a clean sweep of Hangzhou Asian Games race walk gold medals as Wang Qin, He Xianghong, Qieyang and Bai Xueying joined forces in the 35km mixed team final.

Qieyang finished first among all female athletes with a time of 2 hours 45 minutes 13 seconds. Together with Wang's time of 2 hours 31 minutes 28 seconds, the Chinese team finished in 5 hours 16 minutes 41 seconds and won the gold medal.

As a debut event at the Asian Games, the Chinese team showcased their strong abilities and set an Asian record.

Both the Olympic gold medal and the Asian Games team gold medal have strengthened my confidence, I had to step up, I want to be a role model for more people, Qieyang said during the post-match interview.

Commentators pointed out that the Chinese athletics team is currently in the process transitioning to a new generation of athletes, but is still continue to defend the dominant position of the first total number of gold medals in home soil. The Olympic gold medal ceremony at the Asian Games is an affirmation of the team's efforts in the past, but also an incentive for the future accomplishments.