28th Olympic Games: Athens 2004

From August 13 to 29, 2004, a total of 11,099 athletes from 202 countries and regions across the world took part in the 28th Olympic Summer Games in Athens, Greece, the country where these Games were originally born and the city where they revived. For the first time the Olympic flame travelled to all continents. Shot Put was held in ancient Olympia and women competed there for the first time. As many as four billion viewers all over the world watched these Games.

In Athens, 235 Chinese athletes qualified for the finals in 107 events of 23 sports; 83 of them set six world records and 17 Olympic marks and won 32 gold, 17 silver and 14 bronze medals in 55 events of 18 sports, helping China rank second only to the United States (35-39-29) in the final medal standings. China maintained its dominance in such sports as diving, shooting, table tennis, badminton and weightlifting. Chinese athletes made impressive progress in fencing and women's cycling, wrestling and archery. Moreover, major breakthroughs were made in track and field, swimming, rowing and canoeing. In the pool, 20-year-old world champion Luo Xuejuan proved her prowess once again in the women's 100m breaststroke when she won the event with a convincing time of 1:06.64 at Athens' Olympic Aquatic Centre.
Hurdler Liu Xiang from Shanghai made history in the Greek capital when he struck gold in the men's 110m hurdles final in a world record-equalling time of 12.91secs. His woman compatriot Xing Huina followed suit in the women's 10,000m by beating a number of world ace runners, including Ethiopia's Ejegayehu Dibaba and double Olympic champion Derartu Tulu, to win the title.
Meng Guanliang and Yang Wenjun demonstrated perfect teamwork in the men's C2 500m canoe, while another Chinese pair Li Ting and Sun Tiantian won China's first gold medal in the women's doubles in tennis.

Special mention should also be made of the Chinese women's volleyball team which, by regaining the Olympic title after 20 years' hard efforts, was cited as a good example of fighting spirit and high moral.

The remarkable achievements made by the Chinese Olympians in Athens has greatly boosted the confidence of the Chinese sports community and helped laid down a solid foundation for sustainable development and further improvement of the nation's overall strength in competitive sports, particularly in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

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