This emphasis on an athlete’s individuality would have been quite controversial, if not unacceptable in China, just a few years ago.
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The 2-minute video revisited classic moments from the Rio Games and featured several well-known athletes, including United States swimmer Michael Phelps and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, as well as many Brazilian Olympians.
Saturday’s victory gave China its third volleyball gold medal in Olympics history.
There were disciplines that Chinese Olympians were always going to dominate. With the two teams having each notched a set, it was China’s turn to make a run for gold.
Serbia is taking home a medal for the first time ever.
China took down the two-time defending Olympic champion Brazilian women on their home turf in Tuesday’s quarter-finals to show that this team had arrived – and, until Saturday night, that had been China’s shining moment.
In other areas, though, the machine fell apart.
“You kidding me? The country which has never finished above China is about to”, spluttered the official Xinhua news agency, in a tweet that was later removed.
China topped the table in 2008, when they hosted the Games in Beijing, and were second in Athens 2004 and London 2012.
As the Rio Olympics wind down, many observers have noticed a shift in the way the Games have been received in China.
The victory was a huge moment for China. Diver Qin Kai’s podium proposal to fellow diver and silver medalist He Zi warmed the hearts of many – though Qin also faced criticism for stealing the thunder of his unwitting fiancee.
But he had warm words for swimmer Fu Yuanhui, whose bubbly personality and frank comments rare for a Chinese athlete won hearts at home and overseas.
Akinradewo said some therapy on her left leg put her back in competition for the bronze medal game, as she shed a tear over missing another opportunity to capture the gold.
He reiterated though that the focus is no longer to get the most gold, but to encouraging mass participation of the Chinese in sports. The term “women’s volleyball spirit” is even used by Chinese authorities in their propaganda.
Yet explosive reactions in social and news media following the hard-fought gold in women’s volleyball would suggest that there is still significant importance attached to first place.
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“It is ridiculous to show the Japanese men’s table tennis team as the best memory of the events in Rio in the video, since China claimed all the ping-pong gold medals”, wrote another Net user.
