China in sports: 2021 booms, 2022 excites

II Figures in spotlight

Teenage diver Quan Hongchan scored perfect 10s in three of her five dives to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics on Aug 5. The baby-faced Quan barely made a ripple in the water during her finals performance and tallied 466.2 points to dominate the field. Quan's three flawless dives went viral both at home and abroad.

Table tennis player Ma Long became the first player to claim back-to-back Olympic men's singles titles, as well as the first man to complete two Grand Slams - the treble of Olympic, world championship and World Cup titles in one year.

Veteran weightlifter Lyu Xiaojun made history by winning a gold medal in the men's 81kg category along with three new Olympic records at the Tokyo Olympic Games on July 31. This is Lyu's third Olympic medal after gold (2012) and silver (2016) in the 77kg category, making the 37-year-old Lyu the first Chinese weightlifter to rack up more than two Olympic medals. Lyu broke the record for the oldest Olympic Games champion in the sport set by Rudolf Plukfelder of the Soviet Union, who was 36 years old when he won gold at Tokyo 1964.

Shot putter Gong Lijiao won her first Olympic gold medal on Aug 1, and the victory marked China's first Olympic gold in field events. The four-time Olympian set her personal best twice in the final, throwing 20.53 meters in the fifth round and 20.58m in her sixth attempt.