Elite sport success

China’s state-sponsored sporting programme, that has supported young athletes in becoming world and Olympic champions over the past 50 years, was strengthened in the lead-up to the Games, to support the elite athletes in their preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games. The programme has produced a steady stream of successful athletes over the past decade, including diving, weightlifting, artistic gymnastics, badminton and table tennis medallists.

Elite sport success
© 2016 / International Olympic Committee (IOC) / STOCKMAN, Matthew - All rights reserved - Long Chen, Rio 2016 Olympic champion in badminton.

Thanks in part to the development of the sporting system, Chinese athletes won 48 gold medals in Beijing in 2008, almost 10 times more than they had at Seoul 20 years earlier. That success has continued, with a further 161 medals coming at London 2012 and Rio 2016, leaving China well up the medal table at both Games.