Hangzhou Asian Games | Wind Comes from the East, Tide surges by the Qiantang River - China Sports Olympics after the Tokyo Olympics | China | East Comes, Tide surges by the Qiantang River

Beijing, September 4th (Xinhua) - At the Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese delegation won 38 gold medals, equaling the best performance in foreign Olympic competitions. Over the past two years, Chinese athletes have worked hard and courageously, showcasing a more open, confident, and respectable image of China to the world, and becoming leaders and practitioners in the construction of a sports powerhouse.

On July 23, 2021, the Chinese delegation entered the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cao Can

The Asian sports world has entered Hangzhou time, and as the host country, the Chinese delegation will welcome the most important "mock exam" of the Paris Olympic cycle. Our mission is on our shoulders, and we strive with ourselves. Chinese sports will take new and solid steps by the Qiantang River.

Chinese Power

In 2021, the athletes who participated in the Tokyo Olympics only had a brief rest before entering the national sports arena. In the ancient capital of Xi'an during the Thirteen Dynasties, standing at the intersection of the "Two Centenary Goals", there were a grand event where 9 people and 1 team exceeded 12 world records 12 times, 1 person and 1 team set 2 Asian records 2 times, and 15 people and 7 teams set 24 national records 24 times... These shining achievements are the "starting gun" and "assembly number" for Chinese athletes on the new journey of comprehensively building a socialist modernized country.

95 seconds! On the Mid Autumn Festival night of 2021, Su Bingtian finally fulfilled his dream of winning the men's 100m championship in the athletics event at the National Games. After returning from Tokyo, even during quarantine, he did not neglect his training. In his room, he used yoga mats and elastic ropes for core training, and even practiced bouncing with a box of mineral water.

Showcasing the power of China is not just Su Bingtian's dream.

Data picture: Chinese athlete Qin Haiyang is in the competition. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Zeguo

At the Fukuoka Swimming World Championships in July this year, Qin Haiyang achieved an unparalleled feat of "triple crown" in men's breaststroke and broke the world record for 200 meter breaststroke, becoming the undisputed "world breaststroke king". Zhang Yufei was crowned the champion in the women's 100m butterfly. The two also won the men's and women's 4x100m medley relay championship with their teammates. Subsequently, they rushed to Chengdu without stopping to participate in the World University Summer Games. After only three or four hours of rest, they once again stepped onto the international stage and continued to work diligently to complete each competition.

Adhering to the spirit of having a broad vision, confidence and openness, facing challenges, pursuing excellence, and jointly creating the future of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese ice and snow athletes also delivered a striking report at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics: the Chinese sports delegation ranked third on the gold medal list with 9 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze medals, creating the best performance in the history of participating in the Winter Olympics; Winter Olympics champions such as Gu Ailing, Su Yiming, Gao Tingyu, and Xu Mengtao have also become new idols for Chinese young people.

Live up to the glory of youth

The Beijing Winter Olympics are in full swing, and the news that the Chinese women's football team has won the Asian Cup championship again after 16 years has made countless Chinese people cheer. Especially in the final match against the South Korean team, the Chinese women's football team, in a disadvantageous situation of two goals behind, was assisted by substitute "00s" young player Zhang Linyan to create points and score, helping the team to a 3-2 comeback. Although the Chinese women's football team failed to advance to the group stage at the 2023 Women's World Cup, when Zhang Linyan shed tears after the game, it is believed that she will once again give her all for the "resounding rose".

On August 1st, Chinese team player Zhang Linyan and English team player Daly competed in a match. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Mao Siqian

On the track and field field, Wu Yanni, who has a beautiful appearance and impressive results, emerged from the competition after this year's National Athletics Championships and won a silver medal in the women's 100m hurdles at the Chengdu Universiade, successfully reaching the standard for the Paris Olympics. Speaking of her idol Liu Xiang, she said, "Liu Xiang's repeated victories have brought too much motivation to our generation of athletes and young people." From her and Chen Guanfeng and others, people have reason to look forward to and look forward to the future of Chinese athletics.

At the diving arena, Shuangshu Quanhongchan and Chen Yuxi from the Chinese Dream Team continued to break through and challenge themselves after returning from Tokyo. At the Fukuoka Swimming World Championships, the two of them met at the top of the women's 10 meter platform race. In the end, Chen Yuxi won and won three consecutive championships at the World Championships. The two young ladies are both opponents and partners, and their competition and cooperation will also be an important highlight of diving competitions in the future.

Last year was a year when several new Chinese tennis stars made breakthroughs. In May, Zheng Qinwen made his debut in the French Open and advanced to the round of 16, achieving his best performance in a Grand Slam. In August, Wu Yibing became the first Chinese Mainland men's tennis player to win the Grand Slam men's singles championship in the Open era, and later entered the top 32 of the US Open, making history again. In October, Zhang Zhizhen became the first male player in Chinese Mainland to break into the world's top 100 in real-time ranking.

In the first round of the US Open this year, all seven players from Chinese Mainland were promoted, which once again brought tennis into the eyes of Chinese sports fans. As Wu Yibing said, Chinese tennis will definitely get better and better. Everyone looks forward to one day witnessing a magnificent Chinese derby in the men's singles final at the US Open.

Riding the Wind

Although I missed the Paris Olympics, I hope that the Chinese men's basketball team can face shame and achieve ideal results at the Asian Games. The women's basketball girls have recently played three warm-up matches against their old rivals Australia in Shaanxi and Ningxia, all of which have won. We believe they will do their best to defend the glory of world runners up and Asian champions at their doorstep.

As the "ace teacher" of the Chinese sports delegation, the Chinese table tennis team has set its sights on next year's Paris Olympics, allowing key athletes to adjust their states between different events during the competition, which has become another important task for them to compete for gold and silver in Hangzhou.

On June 18th, guests cheered on the participants at the "Fun Run" event of the Hangzhou Asian Games. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Duo

Since the reform and opening up, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party and the government have attached great importance to and cared about sports work, promoted the reform and development of sports industry, and extensively carried out national fitness activities. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to widely carry out national fitness activities, strengthen youth sports work, promote the comprehensive development of mass sports and competitive sports, and accelerate the construction of a sports powerhouse. After the Tokyo Olympics, a series of heavyweight documents were released, including the "Opinions on Building a Higher Level Public Service System for National Fitness" and the "Notice on Improving the Post class Physical Education Services in Schools to Promote the Healthy Growth of Primary and Secondary School Students".

On August 8th this year, China's 15th National Fitness Day arrived as scheduled. According to data provided by the Group Department of the General Administration of Sport of China, more than 24000 national fitness events were organized and carried out across the country around August 8th, with over 6.5 million direct participants. These activities have enriched the supply channels for scientific fitness guidance, actively led healthy lifestyles, and created a strong atmosphere of valuing, supporting, and participating in sports throughout society.

Unlike the National Games, the Asian Games do not have mass sports events, but this does not affect people's attention to this intercontinental competition. What is the level of Chinese athletes in breakdancing, skateboarding, rock climbing, and surfing? The Asian Games is also a mock exam for these athletes on their way to prepare for the Olympics. In addition, emerging electronic sports as well as traditional non Olympic sports such as martial arts and Go will also hold world-class duels in Hangzhou, which is full of expectations.

The wind comes from the east, and Chinese sports are taking advantage of it, marching forward with great strides on the journey of building a strong sports country.

By the Qiantang River, people's eyes turn to Hangzhou, eagerly anticipating one shining moment after another belonging to Chinese sports.