A winning assist

Motivated by the untapped potential and admirable work ethic of their Chinese disciples, a legion of foreign coaches have overcome challenges, both on and off the field, to help Team China shine brightly in Paris.

Despite dealing with cultural differences and a language barrier, as well as the fierce on-field competition, Team China's foreign coaches and their assistants have hit on a medal-winning formula with the country's hard-working Olympians, leading them to a series of historic "firsts", huge ranking leaps and long-awaited revivals at the Paris Games.

Guided by 42 foreign coaches and staff members from 17 countries and regions, the biggest international crew a Chinese Olympic delegation has ever hired, Team China has expanded its athletic prowess beyond its traditionally strong events to earn success in a wider range of once Western-dominated sports, as well as emerging disciplines.

The East-West collaboration almost delivered, arguably, what would have been the biggest team sport upset of the Games on Friday, when the Chinese women's field hockey team pushed the world No 1 Netherlands to its limit in a narrow final defeat.

Entering the knockout stage underrated and overlooked, the Chinese squad stunned two traditional powers — first, Australia in the quarters and then world No 3 Belgium in the semis — on its way to meeting the defending champion in a rematch of the Beijing 2008 final, where it also met the Dutch side in the Olympic gold-medal decider.

And China came so close — within just eight minutes of knocking the mighty Oranje off its golden throne — before the Dutch neutralized Team China's early goal with a 52nd-minute penalty corner. It retained its Olympic title in the subsequent shootout, which ended 3-1 in favor of the Dutch.

As the mastermind behind the David-vs-Goliath heroics, Team China's Aussie coach Alyson Annan, a two-time Olympic champion as a player with the Hockeyroos (1996,2000), attributed the Chinese program's rejuvenation to the country's sporting culture and her "magical" bond with her players.

"I think that China is a force in sports, (it has) an amazing sporting culture. I think that these athletes are incredible. They're devoted, they worked hard, just giving them a bit of confidence makes them great," said Annan, who steered the Netherlands to victory at Tokyo 2020, before switching sides to take over the Chinese squad in 2022.