The Paris Olympics is a stage for athletes to show their character. Zheng Qinwen, the women’s singles tennis player, and the Chinese men’s swimming team made history, breaking the long-standing Western monopoly in these categories and demonstrating the confidence of the young Chinese generation.
Zheng, 21, is the first Chinese and/or Asian player to make it to the Olympic women’s tennis final and win gold. Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle not only won gold in the men’s 100-meter freestyle with a new record time of 46.40 seconds. In the men’s 4X100 meter medley relay, China broke the United States’ 40-year gold medal monopoly to win in 3 minutes 27.46 seconds, drawing global attention and debate.
For a long time, Western countries have dominated the field of tennis and swimming, not only because training is expensive, but also because some developing countries lack the foundation for these sport events. This also creates a certain stereotype that African players perform better in track and field events that rely on power or endurance, Asian players are mainly good at diving, shooting, gymnastics, small ball and other technical sports, while European and American players have an advantage in swimming, tennis, big ball and canoeing and other fields that require both skill and power.
Pan, 20, and his Chinese peers defied the stereotype in Paris by being physically stronger and faster than their US competitors, and demonstrated to the world the confidence and ability of the Chinese younger generation.
Zheng said his motivation came from watching former Chinese 110-meter hurdler Liu Xiang make history at the 2004 Athens Olympics to motivate herself.
The success of these Chinese athletes in Paris also comes from a more international environment, scientific way of training, and their continuous participation in world sports events which has improved their competitiveness.
There is no doubt that China has written a new Olympic chapter in the fields of tennis and swimming, which were traditionally dominated by participants from Western countries. These improved performances come from China’s more open environment and strong scientific, technological and economic hard power. In the future, whether it is in sports, science and technology, culture and other fields, the Chinese people will continue to work hard, actively participate in global competition in a more open environment, and constantly surpass themselves with stronger national confidence and scientific and technological strength to make new achievements.
-21ST CENTURY BUSINESS HERALD