China to send largest-ever team to an overseas Olympics

China on Wednesday announced that it will send 431 athletes, including 24 Olympic champions, in its largest-ever delegation for an overseas Olympics to the delayed Tokyo Summer Games, which will open on July 23.

As part of the delegation's rigorous COVID-19 countermeasures, 99.61 percent of delegation members, which also include 346 coaches, trainers and officials, have been vaccinated ahead of their trips to the Japanese capital, according to the General Administration of Sport of China.

The delegation is made up of 133 men's and 298 women's athletes, who will compete in 225 events across 30 sports at the Games, which feature a total number of 339 events in 33 sports on its official program.

Led by 24 Olympic champions, the Chinese delegation will count on athletes from six traditionally strong sports – table tennis, diving, weightlifting, shooting, gymnastics and badminton – to bolster its medal hopes in Tokyo, where they are expected to win more gold medals than the total 26 the country won at the last Games in Rio in 2016.

To improve competitiveness in some Western-dominated sports, such as track and field, rowing and water polo, the Chinese delegation has hired 30 foreign coaches and physical trainers from 19 countries to help Chinese athletes prepare for the Tokyo Games.

With the COVID-19 outbreak still a major concern in Tokyo and surrounding regions, the Japanese capital entered its fourth state of emergency on Monday, causing bars and restaurants to close early, amid a rebound in positive cases that had forced the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese organizers last week to ban spectators from nearly all venues.

The Chinese delegation has reiterated that it will follow all necessary COVID-19 control and prevention measures, not just imposed by the host but also from its own health protocols. To avoid getting infected will be the top priority for all teams in Tokyo.