By Xu Huan, associate chief editor and researcher with Foreign Theoretical Trends
   
The 31st Summer Olympic Games will convene in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Aug. 5-21. The Games had set up 306 medal competitions covering 28 sports, while more than 10,000 athletes from over 200 countries and regions are expected to participate.

The Chinese delegation was unveiled on July 18, with 416 athletes - 256 female and 160 male athletes - with their average age at 24. This is the 9th Summer Olympic Games for the Chinese to join in and its largest team to go abroad since 1984.
  
113 Chinese athletes have competed in the Olympic Games before, accounting for 27 percent. 108 athletes joined the 2012 London Olympic Games. 253 athletes participated in the Asian Games. 

It is the first time for 302 athletes (73 percent of the total number) to compete in the Olympic Games. Athletes, such as Chen Ying, Wu Minxia, Lin Dan and Yi Jianlian, have competed each in the Games three times.

There are 35 Chinese Olympic champions in 12 sports. 27 are champions of the 2012 London Olympic Games, including Li Xiaoxia, Wu Minxia, Chen Ying, Zhang Chenglong, Lin Dan, Wu Jingyu, and Sun Yang.

The delegation has 259 coaches, team leaders and doctors. 29 coaches are from 11 different countries, including the United States and Germany, covering 17 sports such as track and field, swimming, and women's football.

Except for Rugby and handball sports, the Chinese delegation will compete in 210 events over 26 sports, and participate in all competitions of archery, modern pentathlon, weight lifting, diving, synchronized swimming, gymnastics, trampoline, rhythmic gymnastics, basketball, table tennis, badminton, and golf.

Athletes’ performances in table tennis, badminton, gymnastics, diving, archery and weight lifting have played vital roles in which China had won gold medals before. The Games serve as the highest stage for athletes reflecting a country's competition sports power.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the Chinese delegation had 639 athletes, winning 51 gold medals, 21 silver medals and 28 bronze medals and ranking number one on the medals list. It was the first time for an Asian country to capture that distinction.

In the 2012 London Olympic Games, China won 38 gold medals, 27 silver medals and 22 bronze medals, breaking six world records and six Olympic Games' records. The Chinese team has confronted challenges in Rio, but they remain confident.

The Chinese delegation has set four targets: Carry forward the Olympic spirit of "unity, friendship, and progress"; carry forward the Chinese sports spirit and win glory for the motherland; show up for sportsmanship; and  inject a new impetus for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

We are looking forward to watch the rise of the Chinese national flag and to hear the Chinese national anthem played again and again in the Rio Olympic Games. Hello Rio, here we are!

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