Liu Yuchen (right) and Ou Xuanyi of China compete in the men's doubles first-round match against Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi of Malaysia at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, on March 12, 2024. The Chinese pair won 15-21, 23-21, 21-14. Photo: VCG

Chinese athletes are on the final stretch to secure their berths for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, with some already making history in qualifying for the inaugural events for the Paris Games. 

Scheduled from July 26 to August 11, the Paris Games is set to feature 32 sports encompassing 329 events. 

As of Tuesday, athletes from the Chinese mainland have secured 197 spots across 20 sports and 151 events, Zhou Jinqiang, deputy director of the General Administration of Sport of China and member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), told media during the two sessions. 

"We have obtained all the spots on offer in 114 events. For some sports, the Olympic qualifying tournaments are yet to conclude, so I believe that Chinese athletes will secure berths across 30 sports and 210 events," said Zhou. 

"Around 400 Chinese athletes are expected to participate in the Paris Games and the size of the Chinese delegation is estimated to be around 720 people," Zhou noted. 

Some Chinese athletes have already made history in qualifying for the new sports that will debut at the Paris Games - breaking, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing.

Yang Siqi, a 15-year-old athlete from Southwest China's Sichuan Province, became the first Chinese surfer to qualify for the Olympic Games as she finished the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games in 15th place among over 110 female surfers on March 1 in Puerto Rico.

Chinese break dancer Shang Xiaoyu is among 464 global athletes who will take part in the Olympic qualifying tournament for BMX freestyle, skateboarding, breaking and sport climbing in Shanghai from May 16 to 19.

Liu Qingyi is the only Chinese dancer to qualify for the Paris Games so far thanks to her triumph during the Hangzhou Asian Games in October 2023. 

Xia Rui, secretary-general of the street dance committee of the China Dancers Association, told the Global Times on Wednesday that Liu is expected to win a podium finish and Chinese male dancers have hopes of reaching the last eight at the Paris Games. 

"In women's breaking, Liu has an advantage in strength and difficulty in her movements over adversaries. Chinese men's dancers still lag behind Asian rivals in Japan and South Korea, let alone the Europeans, but they have hopes of getting into the quarterfinals," said Xia. 

With around 130 days left before the Paris Games, China has fielded its best lineup for the ongoing All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham with an eye on snatching enough points for full quotas at all badminton events in Paris.

With current world No.2 Shi Yuqi securing one spot in the men's singles, All England reigning champion Li Shifeng has to go the extra mile to solidify his position as the other singles participant in Paris. 

Liu Yu, a Beijing-based sport commentator, told the Global Times that he is optimistic about Chinese badminton and other sports where China has traditional advantages such as shooting, gymnastics and weightlifting and that the focus will be turned to two women's teams.

With both the men's and women's soccer teams out of the competition, China's women's basketball is the only major ball team to have qualified for Paris, where they are expected to replicate their second-place finish at the FIBA Women's World Cup in 2022, which was the country's best record in the tournament.

Meanwhile, the Chinese women's volleyball team, a traditional point of national pride among other sports, has to fight for a high world ranking at the 2024 FIVB Volleyball Nations League in May before securing a spot for Paris. 

"The women's volleyball team remains one of the hottest Chinese teams in the Olympic Games and the women's basketball team may bring us a surprise given their prowess," said Liu. 

Both China's women's and men's 3x3 basketball teams have punched their tickets to the Paris Games. China won bronze in women's 3x3 basketball in Tokyo 2020. 

China has finished within the top three in the gold medal count for six consecutive Olympic Games since Sydney 2000. At the 2020 Tokyo Games, the Chinese delegation won a total of 88 medals, including 38 gold, 32 silver, and 18 bronze, ranking second only to the US in both the gold medal count and overall medal count.