On July 23, the opening ceremony of the 32nd Summer Olympic Games was held at the New National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. The picture shows the Chinese delegation at the opening ceremony of the athletes' entrance ceremony. China News Service reporter Han Haidan photographed
BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- At the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games on the evening of the 23rd, the Chinese delegation walked toward the center of the new National Stadium in Tokyo, dressed in red and white dresses. In the lens, this "Chinese red" looks particularly spectacular and atmospheric against the background of the brilliant lights on the scene.
At the forefront of the team's phalanx were the two flag bearers of the Chinese sports delegation, Zhu Ting, the captain of the Chinese women's volleyball team, and Zhao Shuai, the Olympic champion of taekwondo. The two held aloft the bright five-star red flag, and Chinese athletes were full of smiles on their faces, officially starting the journey of Tokyo.
The Current Chinese Sports Delegation consisted of 777 participants and 431 participating athletes, setting a new record for overseas participants of the Chinese delegation. The average age of the team's athletes is 25.4 years old, and 138 people have participated in the Olympic Games, including 24 Olympic champions.
Infographic: In the rio Olympic Taekwondo men's gold medal competition under 58 kg, China's Zhao Shuai defeated Thailand's Hampa 6:4 to win the championship. The picture shows Zhao Shuai biting the gold medal. Photo by China News Network reporter Tomita
On the evening of July 17, the Chinese Olympic Committee announced that Zhu Ting and Zhao Shuai would serve as the flag bearers of the opening ceremony of the Chinese delegation at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Both served as Olympic flag bearers for the first time, and Zhu Ting became the first female flag bearer of the Chinese sports delegation at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games.
As the leader of the Chinese women's volleyball team, Zhu Ting has a high popularity in the domestic and world volleyball arenas. She entered the national team in 2013, became famous at the World Championships in 2014, led the team to win the World Cup championship in 2015, and led the Chinese women's volleyball team to win the Olympic championship again in 12 years as an absolute main force in 2016, and then stayed in Turkey, winning 8 championships and 6 MVPs (Most Valuable Players), and was the first Chinese athlete to win the Champions League MVP.
Another standard-bearer, Zhao Shuai, wrote the history of Taekwondo in China, 5 years ago in Rio, at the age of 21, he passed the hurdle and won the 58 kg championship in taekwondo in a group of strong hands, achieving the Olympic gold medal of Chinese men's taekwondo "zero breakthrough". Today, he has also grown into a leading figure in Taekwondo in China. It is worth mentioning that as early as the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, he served as the standard-bearer of the Chinese delegation.
Data chart: On August 8, 2008, the 29th Summer Olympic Games were held at the "Bird's Nest" at the Beijing National Stadium. The flag bearer of the Chinese delegation was the famous basketball player Yao Ming, and walking next to Yao Ming was Lin Hao, a second-grade student at Yuzixi Primary School in Yingxiu Town, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province, who won the honorary title of heroic teenager. Photo by Ren Chenming, reporter of China News Service (Photo and text arranged by Xu Xiyi)
Looking at the line-up of flag bearers in previous Summer Olympic Games, there are also many highlights.
In the history of the Chinese delegation, the tall men's basketball players have undoubtedly become the "standard-bearers" in the Olympic Games. At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, China returned to the Olympic family, and at that Olympic Games, Wang Libin, a 21-year-old men's basketball national player with a height of 2 meters 01, served as the standard-bearer of the Chinese delegation, when he was already named the best center in Asia.
In the 7 Olympic Games since then, from Song Tao and Liu Yudong to Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian, the men's basketball players have achieved a "monopoly" in the flag bearer link of the Chinese delegation at the opening ceremony, of which Liu Yudong and Yao Ming have achieved re-election. At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games held in front of his home, Yao Ming, 2 meters 26 meters tall, held aloft the five-star red flag and walked at the forefront of the delegation with Lin Hao, the "little hero of the earthquake", which became a classic scene recorded in the annals of China's Olympic history.
At the Rio Olympics 4 years ago, fencer Thunder broke the "monopoly" of the men's basketball team in the flag-bearer link. The leader of the Chinese men's foil won the gold medal in the men's foil at the 2012 London Olympic Games, helping the Chinese men's foil win the first Olympic gold. At 1.93 meters tall, he eventually became the first non-men's basketball player in the history of the Chinese Olympic Games.
Looking at the world, the flag bearers sent by many delegations actually have their own characteristics, and this has become a unique scenery at the opening ceremony.
Data chart: The picture shows the Maracanã Stadium on August 5, 2016, when the naked and traditionally dressed Pita led the Tongan delegation to the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympic Games, there were countless "circle fans" in an instant.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Pitta Tauffatofa appeared at the opening ceremony as the flag bearer of the Tonga delegation, choosing to break the rules in his appearance, shirtless on the upper body and covered with coconut oil, and on the lower body, he wore Tonga's traditional dance dress, and his strong body and unique outfit made the world remember him.
It is worth mentioning that as a taekwondo player, Pita also qualified for the cross-country skiing competition of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and is a rare winter and summer "double repair" athlete in the history of the Olympic Games.
In the history of The Chinese Sports Delegation, Liu Yudong and Yao Ming, the "God of War", have served as the standard-bearers of the Olympic Games twice. But in the history of the Olympic Games, it is rare to be able to serve as a standard-bearer three times. Wrestler Karelin, known as the "Siberian Bear", made three appearances as a flag bearer at the Olympic Games in Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta.
At the Tokyo Olympic Games, in order to promote gender equality in the field of sports, the International Olympic Committee encouraged delegations to send two flag bearers, one man and one woman, but this is not the first time that two flag bearers have appeared together at the Summer Olympic Games.
As early as the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, North Korean judo coach Park Chung-chul and South Korean women's basketball player Jeong Yin, dressed in black suits and white pants, held high the "Korean Peninsula Flag" and participated in the opening ceremony hand in hand, and the two flag bearers jointly opened a precedent for the dprk-South Korean sports delegation to enter the opening and closing ceremonies of a large-scale multi-sport games. (End)
Source: China News Network