Zhang Yufei Photo: Cui Meng/Global Times

China once again dominated the Asian Games by bagging 201 gold, 111 silver and 71 bronze medals in Hangzhou, surpassing its record of 199 gold medals in 2010. But the harvest in Hangzhou goes beyond winning medals.

The national swimming team is the biggest contributor to the medal tally, as they took home 28 gold, 21 silver and nine bronze medals in 41 disciplines. 

The leading athletes, male breaststroke world champion Qin Haiyang, who won five gold and one silver medals, and female butterfly star Zhang Yufei, who collected six gold medals, were named the MVP of the Games. 

But the touching moment culminating the swimming competition came when Zhang and her arch-rival but friend Rikako Ikee, who won the previous Asian Games MVP in 2018, shared a tearful embrace following the 50-meter butterfly podium.

Ikee, who won six gold and two silver medals at the Jakarta Games, was the bronze medalist in the 50 butterfly, her first international podium finish since being diagnosed with leukemia in February 2019. 

Zhang said it is Ikee's story of fighting back from the disease that inspired her to continue to race after coming down sick when the competition was in full swing. 

"I wasn't feeling well during the Games and would have wavered in my goal," Zhang told reporters. "But when I saw that Ikee was still competing, I felt that I mustn't give in as she is there [after overcoming the disease]."

Nineteen-year-old swimmer Pan Zhanle also made history in men's 100 meters with a sensational 46.97-second finish, becoming the first Asian athlete to clock under 47 seconds in the discipline. His result, only 0.11 seconds behind the world record, is the fifth fastest in all-time history. 

Xie Zhenye Photo: Cui Meng/Global Times

Athletic breakthroughs

In athletics, veteran Chinese sprinter Xie Zhenye, who leveled his personal best in the 100-meter dash at 9.97 seconds to win the gold medal, is also among the Chinese quartet who claimed the men's 4x100 meters relay final. 

Xie, now 30, who was in the squad that won a silver medal at the 2015 world athletics championships, paid tribute to his younger teammates Chen Guanfeng, Yan Hai­bin and Chen Jiapeng, who are all under the age of 23, for the achievement made in Hangzhou.

"In the past two years, the relay team has experienced the pain of a transition between the old and the new," Xie told reporters. 

"The win is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for us, giving us more confidence in our younger generation to compete in the future."

Xie also received a reallocated Tokyo Olympics bronze medal in Hangzhou with his elder sprinting quartet led by star Su Bingtian, who was sidelined in 2023 due to injury. Female veteran racewalker Qieyang Shijie was reallocated a 2012 London Olympics gold medal, making her the first ethnic Tibetan Olympic gold medalist from China. 

Male tennis player Zhang Zhizhen, who is having a breakthrough season, also helped China to reclaim the gold medal in tennis men's singles since Pan Bing did so in 1994. 

The win earned him a berth at the Paris Olympics, when he will play on clay court again at Roland Garros where he made history by becoming the first Chinese tennis player to make it into the last 32 at the 2023 French Open.

Warning signs 

China's sports authorities have vowed to revitalize the three "major balls" - soccer, basketball and volleyball in 2023. But the result for these high-profile sports remains an ongoing project after falling short at the Asian Games.

Among the highlights, the Chinese women's basketball and volleyball teams have successfully defended their titles, the men's volleyball team made it to the finals again after 17 years and the men's soccer team also made it into the last eight again since 2006. 

Zhou Jinqiang, deputy chef de mission of the Chinese delegation at the Asian Games, said on October 8 that though there are bright spots in the three major ball games, generally the performances of a number of teams were unsatisfactory. 

"The men's basketball team lost the semifinals to the Philippines, whose squad is not their first team, and the women's soccer team lost the semifinals to the second-tier Japan team, there is still a gap between the overall performance of the 'three major balls' and the people's expectations," Zhou said. 

He further underlined the underachievement of the men's basketball team, who suffered a defeat to the Philippines in the semifinals in which the Filipinos only led 24 seconds in the 40-minute game. The men's basketball team have already missed the Paris Olympics after a disappointing run at the FIBA World Cup in 2023.

"The men's basketball team did not withstand the pressure in the key games and key moments, and was reversed in the case of a big lead, once again exposing the problems in the management of the national team," Zhou said. 

Qiu Xiuping and Zou Jiaqi Photo: Cui Meng/Global Times

Emerging hopes

Flashback to China's very first gold medal at the Asian Games. It comes in rowing when Chinese pair Zou Jiaqi and Qiu Xiuping won the women's light-weight double sculls.

Rowing remains a new sport for the Chinese public as traditionally it is the names of shooting, weightlifting or wushu - Chinese martial arts - where the Chinese delegation have claimed gold medals at past Asian Games. 

The rise of Chinese rowing could indicate that Chinese athletes are able to compete internationally in some more sports and disciplines, rather than relying only on the traditional sports where China excels, said Cao Yaqi, deputy editor-in-chief of Titan Sports newspaper. 

"The Paris Olympics are less than a year away. Winning medals could make those Chinese athletes who have qualified for the Olympics prepare and compete with confidence, just like what they did in Hangzhou," Cao told the Global Times. 

"Chinese athletes are starting to develop confidence when competing, which will accelerate the transition of China from a medal powerhouse to an overall sports powerhouse."

Zhu Qinan, a former Olympic champion in shooting and now a spokesperson for the Hangzhou Asian Games Sports Operations Center, believed the Hangzhou Asian Games is an opportunity to demonstrate national spirit.

"The power of sports and the Asian Games has united the spirit of our countrymen and the nation, and cultural self-confidence has been further manifested," he said, before noting his career spanned the development of sports in China. 

"We have made new breakthroughs in various international competitions in competitive sports, while the grassroots sports and the sports industry in these years have also continued to grow. I believe things will get even better."