China eyes golden gains in Tokyo

After an extra year of waiting clouded in uncertainty, China's Olympians are primed to flex their muscles at Tokyo 2020, aiming to at least improve on their medal haul from the previous Games in Rio.

With the Olympic flame lighting up the world again at a trying time, Chinese athletes are braced for not just athletic challenges over the next two weeks, but also the task of lifting the nation's spirit by competing hard and in style at the pandemic-hit Games, which opened on Friday in the Japanese capital.

Led by 24 Olympic champions and guided by experienced coaches, including 30 hired from abroad, China's 431-athlete delegation－the largest team China has ever sent to an overseas Olympics－will compete in 255 events across 30 sports.

Delegation chief Gou Zhongwen has challenged the team to halt the slide in the country's gold-medal count at recent Olympics.

"We have to try our hardest to stop the continuous decline of our performance at previous Games,"Gou, president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, said before the team left for Tokyo.

"To make sure that we finish within the leading positions on the medal table is our athletic target, while on the other hand we are committed to competing for clean medals with integrity and sportsmanship."

After topping the standings with 48 golds at the home Olympics in 2008, Team China finished second behind the United States with 38 golds at London 2012, before dropping to third place at Rio 2016 behind the US and Britain with a gold total of 26.

China is counting on six of its traditionally strong Olympic sports－table tennis, diving, weightlifting, shooting, gymnastics, and badminton－to at least surpass its haul from five years ago in Brazil.

However, given the strength of its major rivals, that is a far from straightforward task. Host Japan has made major strides in table tennis, badminton and gymnastics, the US dominates athletics and swimming, while athletes competing under the Russia Olympic Committee banner are also expected to provide stiff competition.

According to analytics company Gracenote, China is projected to finish second in the gold-medal standings with a total of 33 behind the US(40) in Tokyo, and third in the overall medal standings with a total of 66 behind the US and ROC.

However, Gracenote added that due to the absence of Chinese athletes from international competitions since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, those predictions perhaps underestimate the team's chances.

Facilitated by imported coaching expertise and a safe training environment at home, Chinese athletes have made impressive progress during the one-year pandemic-enforced delay.

Encouragingly, much of those gains have come in Western-dominated events, such as rowing, boxing and athletics, where a number of Chinese look primed for breakthroughs in Tokyo.

Staying safe

With the pandemic situation in Tokyo worsening heading into the opening weekend of the Games, the Chinese delegation has also highlighted efforts in COVID-19 control and prevention as a top priority throughout its stay in Japan.

In addition to regulations set by the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, the Chinese Olympic Committee has also urged all teams to strictly follow its own health protocols and stay protected whenever and wherever necessary.

Despite the growing list of positive cases reported from within the Olympic Village, the Chinese delegation remains optimistic of keeping all its members safe as long as all countermeasures are fully adopted.

"The Olympic Village is clean and tidy, the food at the athletes' restaurant is delicious and healthy," said Liu Guoyong, secretary-general of the delegation.

"We appreciate the work of the Games' organizing committee."

Liu reiterated that the Chinese delegation will strictly abide by the rules made by the organizers on epidemic prevention and control, calling on all Olympic delegations to fully support and cooperate with the organizers to ensure a successful Games.