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China’s Olympic chances

Written by Chrsitian Newbold

This article first appeared in the Jul/Aug 2012 issue of World Gaming magazine.

China dominated her own Olympics in Beijing so don’t expect anything to change in London.

Not content with her recent rise to world economic powerhouse, China has established herself as the most dominant Olympic nation on the planet. The days of Eastern Europe going head to head with the US are now well and truly over. The Asian sleeping giant has awoken and is here to stay.

The Olympics feature many sports that do not get a lot of attention outside of the Games. Throughout the latter part of the 20th century the Eastern Bloc countries, especially the Russians and the East Germans, took advantage of this but those glory days are well and truly gone. The US remains a major player and will probably get the second most medals and golds at the 2012 London Games, but expect them to be well behind China who look set to lead the field.

China excels in a lot of sports. To be truthful “excel” is an understatement, China dominates. The swimming and the athletics still provide a huge number of the medals up for grabs and that’s where the US holds sway, but in most other areas the Chinese are a cut above the rest.

CHINESE CHANCES
There are three sports where the Chinese could conceivably win every gold medal on offer: table tennis, diving and badminton. China’s dominance in these sports is overwhelming – the only danger of losing out on golds here is by underperforming as the Chinese do not really have to push themselves too hard to win.

Sports like judo, weightlifting and gymnastics should see the Chinese pick up a slew of medals. China is also very adept at coming from relative obscurity in sports they haven’t previously shown expertise in, to turning up at the Games and winning a bundle of gold medals. For example, at the 2004 Athens Games the Chinese took down gold medals in both canoeing and Taekwondo, despite few people in China actively participating in these sports.

The Chinese system is second to none when it comes out to churning out Olympians. China has fantastic facilities and some of the best coaching staff in the world. This dedication to sport has seen the Chinese rise to the top of Olympic competition.

The London Games promises to showcase some of the best sport in the world and the Chinese will provide a large percentage of the highlights. The people of China should be proud of their athletes as they are laying the foundations for a sporting dynasty the likes of which the world has never seen. Whilst the origins of the Olympics date back to the days of the Ancient Greeks, future generations may well view the Games as synonymous with China.