How Will China Perform at the Rio Olympics?

THE 2016 Summer Olympics， also known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad， are set to kick off in Rio de Janeiro， Brazil on August 5， marking the first time a South American country hosts the event. Some 400 athletes representing China will compete in 220 events across 26 sports.

Far Distance

China topped the Beijing Olympics medal tally with 51 gold， 21 silver， and 28 bronze medals in 2008. And it ranked second in both the gold medal and overall medal tally at the London 2012 Olympics， with 38 gold， 27 silver， and 23 bronze medals， thus showing the countrys best achievement ever in Olympic Games held outside of China. Now， as the Rio Olympics approach， people are once more focusing on the performance of the Chinese delegation.

Speaking of the goal of the Rio Olympics， Liu Aijie， deputy director of the competitive sports department of the State General Administration of Sport， emphasized that the delegation will strive for good results， both in terms of sportsmanship and performance. He also observed that Chinese athletes will face much greater challenges in Rio than in London， and even than in Athens.

According to Liu， China had set up panels to prepare for the 2016 Summer Olympics one year after the London Olympics ended. From 2014， training programs on key sport events and players were instituted based on a competitive system and agenda. At present， more than 20 overseas athletic professionals are participating in preparations for the Olympics. A total of 43 foreign coaches have also been involved in training for Rio.

Despite Chinas attendance at seven summer Olympic Games abroad， that in Rio is the most geographically distant. Even the most convenient flights take 25 hours from Beijing to Rio de Janeiro， taking transfers into account. Aside from transportation， the social and natural environments in South America are much more complicated. The climate is particularly different from that of Europe and Asia.

The schedule of competitions poses another challenge for Chinese athletes. For instance， considering time differences and the TV viewing habits of people in various regions， preliminary swimming contests will be held at 13：00 local time， while semi-finals and finals will not start until 22：30 local time. Chinese swimmers， who often keep early hours， will hence have to change their regular schedule to be on top form until midnight.

In addition， some changes in contest rules will inject uncertainties into matches. The new rule for the shooting competition serves as an example. Scores in qualifying rounds are no longer taken into consideration in the finals， where the loser in each round is eliminated until two players are left to compete for the championship. This requires of contestants extraordinary inner strength to hold out to the end.

Moreover， the rule for the badminton event has changed as well. Each delegation may send two athletes or two pairs of athletes at the most to participate in one individual competition. In the meantime， only the top two world players can be assigned separately in the upper half and lower half. The rest draw lots to determine their order. This means that two contestants from the same delegation might be in the same half. Therefore， it will not be easy for Chinese players to reprise their glory in the finals of winning a hefty haul of gold and silver medals.

Fierce Challenges

Liu Peng， head of the State General Administration of Sport， revealed that the Chinese delegation faces a grim situation and many challenges in Rio.“The U.S. has shown its impressive competitiveness in the latest international matches，” he said. “In recent years， countries including the U.S. have enhanced their support for sports – financially and socially. At the same time， their training concepts have been elevated. High-caliber and versatile teams for training management are maturing， and advanced technologies provide better facilities and protection for athletes. As a result， the whole world sees a rising level of competitive edges in sports. It is foreseeable that Russia， the U.K.， Germany， and Japan， among many others， will be highly competitive in the Rio Olympics， and Chinese athletes must be fully prepared for a trying time.

China remains well in the lead in such events as table tennis， badminton， gymnastics， shooting， weightlifting， and diving. However， it has experienced setbacks in recent years. The 2015 Badminton World Federation Championship saw Chinas worst performance in womens singles in the last 32 years. Furthermore， divers are losing their advantages in some events， and key athletes in weightlifting have experienced several signal failures in the world championships.

However， the country has witnessed remarkable progress in some events， including windsurfing， cycling， fenc- ing， boxing， and taekwondo. However， their performances have not been stable. Swimming and track and field have both logged progress， but it is difficult to make further breakthroughs in the Rio Olympics. As for ball games， except for womens volleyball， mens basketball， womens hockey， and womens football， athletes in other events are either not sufficiently competitive or not qualified for the Olympics. The failure of womens basketball in the Asia Championship has cast a cloud over prospects in Rio.

The performance of the swimming team is also hard to forecast. Former Olympic champion Sun Yang suffered a foot injury earlier this year from which he has not recovered. Furthermore， suspense lingers as to whether Ning Zetao， winner of the world 100-meter freestyle title in Russia in 2015， will be able to maintain his momentum this year. In addition， leading female swimmers Ye Shiwen and Fu Yuanhui are not in peak condition. Worse， prominent swimmers Liu Zige and Jiao Liuyang will pull a noshow in Rio. A formidable task seems to confront the team in winning five gold medals as it did in the last Olympic Games， not to mention to surpassing it.

Expected Highlights

In addition to challenges， the Chinese delegation is also seizing opportunities. Highlights are expected in such events as womens volleyball and womens football. In 2015， China won its first womens volleyball World Cup in 12 years and accordingly qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The Womens football team， at the same time， has expended great efforts amid difficulties， and eventually obtained the qualification necessary to participate in the Rio Olympics.

People in China have long admired the womens volleyball team. It won five consecutive world champions in the 1980s， and Lang Ping， the present head coach， led the squad to the silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She moreover led the U.S. to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games silver medal when she coached the U.S. Womens National Volleyball Team. In 2014， Chinese volleyball players took second place at the Volleyball Womens World Championship， despite unfavorable conditions. In the 2015 World Cup， the Chinese team overcame the absence of three major players and the disadvantageous position of losing to the U.S. in the first stage to win the champion in the end. Lang hopes the squad goes to Rio ambitous and confident rather than weighed down under pressure.

The players on the womens football team also shoulder the peoples expectations. The team went into a decline after winning second place at the Womens World Cup in 1999. No revival was evident until it delivered an outstanding performance in the Asian Zone preliminaries of the Rio Olympic womens football event， and thus earned a berth. After eight years， the Chinese female football players are finally returning to the Olympic arena. The team has achieved the greatest rise among the worlds top 50 teams to reach 12th place. In all honesty， however， the current team lacks leading players and its strategy needs improvement. Yet it has a favorable age structure and a spirit of determination that is praiseworthy. The Chinese people are hoping to see a renaissance in womens football.

On top of all this， some events are expected to make breakthroughs in events that have hitherto yielded zero gold medals for China. “The team has made progress and the competitiveness has risen compared with four years ago，” Jiang Guofeng， leader of Chinas national cycling team said. He is confident of the teams potential for gold medals in Rio.

Mayuko Fujiki， Chinese synchronized swimming team coach， would like to lead her squad to compete with synchronized swimming powerhouse Russia. Synchronized swimmers from China have already shown their potential， winning a goodly number of medals in the 2012 London Olympics， the Synchronized Swimming World Cup in Canada in 2014， and the 2015 Swimming World Championships in Kazan， Russia.

Womens boxing was included for the first time in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. In their debut Olympics， Chinese female boxers racked up satisfying outcomes with one silver and one bronze medal. Competitive athletes including Ren Cancan， Yin Junhua， and Li Qian are ready to strive for even better achievements in Rio.