Behind the increasing number of gold medals Chinese athletes have bagged is the popularity of a wider range of sports with the general public in the past three decades.

The logic is that more people getting involved in a particular sport will certainly provide more candidates for coaches to select the most hopefuls from. More athletes then are likely to get medals. Thus begins a virtuous circle - the glory of medalists will arouse interest of more people in a wider range of sports.

China's Zhang Yining (L) plays against Croatia's Boros Tamara (not pictured) during the Women's Team table tennis competition of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at the Peking University gymnasium in Beijing on August 13, 2008. [Agencies]

Why is table tennis China's forte in the world of sport for so many years? The number of Chinese playing this game equals the population of at least a medium-sized country.

An increasing number of gold medals for Chinese athletes in an increasingly wider range of sports is because more Chinese have developed an interest in the sports that they did not have chances to take part in before.

Three decades back, very few Chinese could understand tennis, to say nothing of playing it. The same is true with such sports as boxing, snooker and many other kinds of sports. Even if they wanted to, they got nowhere to play and could not afford to play, either.

Now it is quite common for many to pay for their regular exercise in a particular sport such as swimming, tennis, table tennis or badminton at a fixed sporting venue.

Much wider choices of medal hopefuls have also made it possible for some to change their fates by sweating their way up to the podium of medals.

Gold medalist Wang Xin of the women's 10m synchronized platform diving made her way up from a poor family and her parents had to put up a stall at a night market to earn her the fees for her training.

Lin Yao, gold medalist of the men's 10m synchronized platform diving, was born into a poor farmer's family, and his parents sold their house to provide for his training.

Guo Wenjun, who won the gold medal in women's 10m air pistol shooting, has not known the whereabouts of her father for 10 years. What inspired her to make the utmost efforts in training was the hope that her fame as a gold medalist would help her find her father.

The list can go on. They would not have become what they are today without the open and pluralistic social ambience, created by economic reform and opening up, for the prosperity of sports.

With a bumper harvest of medals for China in this Olympic Games, more people will be expected to take part in sporting activities in one way or another. This should be one of the most valuable legacies the Games will leave for its host country.