Agency :
China will send 405 athletes, including 42 Olympic champions, to the upcoming Paris Olympic Games, as a 716-member delegation was officially announced here on Saturday.
136 male and 269 female athletes will compete in 236 events across 30 sports at the July 26-August 11 Games.
Gao Zhidan, head of the Chinese Olympic delegation, called on these Paris-bound athletes to “strive for athletic success and show good sportsmanship” at the delegation’s launch ceremony.
A total of 223 Chinese athletes will make their Olympic debut in Paris.
Eleven-year-old skateboarder Zheng Haohao is the youngest Chinese and Liu Hong, Olympic champion race walker, 37, is the oldest competitor.
Around 10,500 athletes from more than 200 countries and regions are expected to take part in the Paris Olympics from July 26 to August 11.
China has consistently finished in the top three positions in the Olympic medals table since Sydney 2000, and this trend is expected to continue in Paris.
Much of China’s Olympic success relied on its squads in diving, shooting, gymnastics, table tennis, badminton and weightlifting – which have contributed a whopping 192 of China’s total 263 gold medals at the Olympics since Los Angeles 1984.
During the Paris Olympic cycle, the country’s “six ace squads” maintained a high level of performance across various competitions.
Consequently, China is projected to finish second on total medals and should challenge the United States for first place in gold medals, according to Nielsen’s Gracenote’s latest Virtual Medal Table forecast.
After missing out on the mixed doubles title in Tokyo, China’s table tennis team will look to secure a clean sweep of all five Olympic titles this time around.
“We cannot take for granted that these five gold medals belong to China. All five gold medals are in Paris, and they are reserved for the brave and the wise, for those who excel the most,” said Liu Guoliang, president of the Chinese Table Tennis Association.
China’s table tennis icon Ma Long is now gearing up for his fourth Olympic appearance, leading China’s men’s team alongside world champions Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong, while Sun Yingsha, Chen Meng and Wang Manyu headline the women’s squad.
“We have been fine-tuning our form for quite a long time, and we will give our all to achieve the best possible results in Paris,” said women’s world number one Sun Yingsha, who will compete in singles, mixed doubles, and team events.
China’s diving squad includes five Olympic champions. Cao Yuan will become a four-time Olympian, while Quan Hongchan, Chen Yuxi, Wang Zongyuan and Xie Siyi will be competing in their second Olympic Games.