Chinese President Xi Jinping met the country’s Olympic heroes at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday, and praised them for their performance and sportsmanship throughout the Paris Games.
Xi said the athletes had “won glory for the country and people”, and told an audience including the likes of gold-wining swimmer Pan Zhanle, gold-carrying diver Quan Hongchan and Zheng Qinwen, who took home gold in singles tennis, to continue striving for success to further establish China as a sporting powerhouse.
China had its most successful overseas Games in the French capital, winning 40 golds to finish level with the United States. The team won 91 medals overall, just one fewer than they managed in London in 2012, the most outside the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when China won 48 golds and 100 medals in total.
The delegation’s performance has met with widespread acclaim at home and Xi said it showed China’s sporting prowess and national strength.
“The motherland and the people are proud of you and applaud you,” Xi told the athletes. “The Chinese delegation’s excellent performance in Paris has carried forward the spirit of Chinese sports, as well as the Olympic spirit.”
China has increasingly focused on sports development, which is seen as a reflection of the growing strength of the country itself, and some commentators have called the performance in Paris evidence of a continuing trend of first equalling and then overhauling the US on the world stage.
“The excellent results of the Chinese sports delegation is a concentrated reflection of the development and progress of the country’s sports cause, and also a microcosm of the achievements of China’s modern construction, fully demonstrating the strength of China in the new era,” Xi said.
And after an Olympics overshadowed by a growing row with the United States over failed drug tests and the policing of doping generally, China’s leader said the country’s athletes had also won medals the right way.
“China’s delegation has been committed to winning gold medals for morality, conduct and integrity, and has demonstrated sportsmanship and earned broad respect and recognition,” he said.
“On the field, they obeyed the rules, respected the opponents … maintained good race discipline and civilised etiquette.”
While swimmers from other countries refused to shake hands with the likes of record-breaking 100m gold medallist Pan, China’s athletes kept their composure and the 20-year-old revealed he had been subjected to 21 doping tests from May to July before the Games.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the Tokyo Games, but were allowed to compete after officials deemed the substance entered their bodies unknowingly.
Xi was seen chatting happily with Pan, weightlifting gold medallist Li Wenwen as well as table tennis star Ma Long, diving queen Quan, tennis champion Zheng, swimmer Zhang Yufei and other stand-out Chinese athletes from Paris.
Ex-NBA star Yao Ming, who helped coach the women’s basketball team in Paris, and had been expected to be in Hong Kong for a charity game on Tuesday travelled to Beijing for the event. He was scheduled to return to Hong Kong afterwards.
“You showed the belief of winning by tenacious struggle and self-improvement, showing the qualities of unity and cooperation, fighting side by side, and showed the temperament of the young generation of Chinese athletes with confidence, optimism, enthusiasm and friendliness,” Xi told the athletes.
Other officials attending the event included members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party Central Committee, and Vice-President Han Zheng.
While China’s Olympians have been welcomed across the country with open arms, fan behaviour has occasionally become disruptive and aggressive, something authorities have actively addressed.
In early August, Beijing police arrested a woman suspected of defaming table tennis player Chen Meng and her coach, after she beat fan favourite Sun Yingsha in the women’s singles final.
Pan, meanwhile, has disbanded his fan group page on the social media platform Weibo and told state broadcaster CCTV that he preferred to maintain a low profile.
Looking ahead to the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, where China ended its self-imposed Olympic exile at the 1984 Olympics, Xi promised a commitment to promoting the integration of national fitness and national health initiatives, as well as an environment “conducive to greater athletic glory”.
He said preparations in the country were already under way and urged Chinese athletes to “remain humble” while working toward increased success in LA.
“They should continue to excel in competitive sports, and help promote national fitness and the development of youth sports,” Xi said.
Additional reporting by Vivian Au
