They won their first gold in Los Angeles in 1984 when Lang was on the team.
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The winning streak catapulted the team to national hero status with the “spirit of women’s volleyball team” dominating public rhetoric for decades.
China’s women volleyball team made history on Saturday after defeating Serbia in the finals to win the volleyball gold medal in the ongoing Rio Olympics, Reuters reported.
China’s silver lining came in the behaviour of their athletes, who unusually showed their human side and won new fans, at home and overseas, in the process.
All along, she believed her emotional players had the talent and determination to compete with the top programs in the world.
And oh, did they show it.
Lang Ping, a well-known name in volleyball, has always been called the “Iron Hammer” in China, a nickname she picked up during her playing days some 3 decades ago. Many more hugs followed.
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.
However, the squad managed to finish 4th in the qualifiers, which was good enough to get them into the quarterfinals where they upset defending Olympic champions Brazil.
Lang Ping’s group of women found its top level of volleyball over the recent days in Rio de Janeiro and spoiled things for a volleyball-crazed country in the process.
For a big nation, trudging forward to achieve development in an increasingly complicated domestic and global environment is never an easy job, and that makes the spirit of perseverance and the determination to fight on more than ever indispensable. The score eventually knotted at 20, and then again at 21, 22, and 23, before China secured the final two points to win the set and the match.
The word war began at around 2:00 in the afternoon with one of them calling the police two hours into the drama. Like the Brazilians who eventually won most coveted soccer gold medal, the volleyball title ensured a flawless ending for the Chinese delegation. “Now I just want to go home and be with them”, she said. “In Europe, in the youth category Serbia is No. 1, in junior category Serbia is No. 1”, said Aleksandar Boricic, President of the European Volleyball Confederation. “Just go ahead and concentrate on the game”. It’s a great future, they have many young players.
Last year, the State Volleyball Administration said it planned to launch an independent national league by the end of 2020 and explore the commercial potential of the game.
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A flag with four stars parallel to one another, rather than correctly angled towards the main star, was first raised during the medal ceremony of the women’s 10m air rifle.
