Country's highlights at the Asian Games

Men's 4100m relay team

Boasting a strong lineup of Chen Shiwei, Xie Zhenye, Su Bingtian and Zhang Peimeng, the Chinese men's 4100m relay team smashed the previous Asian record held by Japan to win the gold medal in 37.99 seconds at the Incheon Asian Games final on Oct 2. The result was the fourth fastest relay time in the world this year and could have won a medal at the 2012 London Olympics. The victory proved China's legitimacy as a new power in Asian sprint events, which was previously dominated by Japan.

Zhao Qinggang, men's javelin

Chinese male javelin thrower Zhao Qinggang stunned audience members at the Incheon Asian Games main stadium on Oct 2 with an impressive 89.15-meter throw, which broke Japanese Kazuhiro Mizoguchi's 25-year-old Asian record, to win the gold medal. The throw could have won the title at the 2013 World Championships and gold at the 2012 London Olympics. As an unexpected victory, Zhao's performance was considered a great contribution to the nation's athletics team's 15-gold medal haul at Incheon and boosted the team's confidence for next year's Beijing Worlds.

Lin Dan, men's badminton

As arguably the greatest men's badminton player of all time, Lin proved his supremacy in the Asian-dominating sport again by beating Malaysian archrival Lee Chong Wei and reigning world champion Chen Long to claim his second singles Asiad gold medal on Sept 29. Despite winning all the titles on offer in the badminton world, Lin said he would not consider retirement until the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. Following the retirement of basketball icon Yao Ming and tennis star Li Na, Lin is the only active Chinese sports figure who enjoys global recognition and popularity.

Sun Yang, men's swimming

Appearing as hostile rivals in media reports, Sun and Park Tae-Hwan, the top two freestyle swimmers in Asia, actually share respect and admiration for each other in reality. Their "frienemy" relationship became evident when Sun presented a birthday cake to Park and smeared the cake on his South Korean counterpart's face on Sept 26. Their friendly interaction out the pool drew massive exposure during the swimming competition in Incheon and broke down media stereotypes about their alleged hostility towards each other.

Women's air pistol team

In the eye-catching women's 10m air pistol team final, which produced China's first gold medal in Incheon, the Chinese contingent, consisting Guo Wenjun, Zhang Mengyuan and Zhou Qingyuan, overcame hefty expectations and strong challenges from the host South Korean team to claim gold and got the Chinese delegation off to a flying start at the games. The Chinese shooting team bagged 27 gold medals out of the 44 on offer in Incheon, finishing top of the event's medal count.

Men's archery team

Edging out world archery power South Korea at the semifinals to win the recurve men's team gold medal in Incheon, team China, consisting Gu Xuesong, Qi Kaiguang and Yong Zhiwei, made history to win the first Asiad title for the male team and broke South Korea's long-standing dominant record in its traditional sport. China outperformed South Korea with a thin edge of one millimeter at the semis and carried on the momentum to beat Malaysia in three consecutive sets in the final on Sept 28.

(China Daily European Weekly 10/17/2014 page15)