Old heads, new faces light up Games

"The performance of talented youngsters like Liu at this competition is truly encouraging for our preparations as we head toward LA28," said Olympic champion Du Li, now the head coach of the national shooting team.

This youthful surge extended beyond the shooting range. On the athletics track, 16-year-old Chen Yujie delivered a stunning performance, winning the women's 100m title on Nov 17 with a time of 11.10 seconds, shattering the Asian junior record.

Just two days later, she secured another gold in the 200m with 23.02 seconds, becoming the youngest female sprint double champion in National Games history.

In the swimming pool, alongside established stars like Zhang Yufei, Wang Shun, Xu Jiayu and Pan Zhanle, new faces emerged.

Eighteen-year-old Zhang Zhanshuo from Shandong province delivered an extraordinary performance, competing on seven of the eight competition days across five individual events and one relay. He claimed five gold medals, broke one world junior record and reset three national junior records.

Thirteen-year-old Yu Zidi also made headlines, collecting three golds, one silver and one bronze.

Her most remarkable achievement came in the women's 200m individual medley, where she won gold with a time of 2:07.41, breaking the Asian record that had been held for 13 years by Olympic champion Ye Shiwen.

"The emergence of this promising pipeline of young athletes demonstrates that our sports talent development program is working well, strengthening our confidence for the upcoming Los Angeles Olympics," said Tong Lixin, vice-minister of the General Administration of Sport of China, following the conclusion of the Games.