China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

was the host nation of the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. China was represented by the

Chinese Olympic Committee The Chinese Olympic Committee (; IOC code: CHN) has been the officially designated body of the People's Republic of China (PRC) regarding the Olympic Games and other affiliated international sport federations since 1979, when the Nagoya Resolu ...

(COC), and the team of selected athletes were officially known as ''Team China''. As the host country, China had a total of 639 athletes qualified for places on the national team, being the largest in its Olympic history. Chinese athletes qualified to compete in all 28

Olympic sports Olympic sports are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2020 Summer Olympics included 33 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics included seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented by an Sports governing body, inter ...

for the first time. Among these athletes, 469 had competed at their first Olympics, 165 in Athens 2004, and 37 in Sydney 2000. Diver

Guo Jingjing Guo Jingjing (; born October 15, 1981, in Baoding, Hebei) is a retired Chinese female diver, and multi-time Olympic gold medalist and world champion. Guo is tied with her partner Wu Minxia for winning the most Olympic medals (6) of any female ...

, shooter

Tan Zongliang Tan Zongliang (; born November 29, 1971) is a male Chinese sports shooter who competed at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 to 2012. He has won two consecutive ISSF World Shooting Championships in 50 metre pistol: in 2002 in Lahti and in 200 ...

and basketballer Li Nan, made their fourth Olympic appearances, having first competed in Atlanta 1996. China also included 460 officials, making a total of 1,099 delegates. According to Olympic protocol, China entered as the last nation into the

Beijing National Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, p ...

during the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

, and was led by basketballer Yao Ming and Lin Hao, a 9-year-old

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

student who had rescued two schoolmates during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. China dominated the rankings for the first time with 51 gold medals (China was later stripped of 3 golds in weightlifting for doping violations). In 2009, Team China won the

Laureus World Sports Awards The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year. It was established in 1999 by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation foundin ...

for the Best Team of the Year. The team excluded athletes from the Special Administrative Region of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, which competed separately as

Hong Kong, China Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Medalists

China won a total of 99 medals, 48 gold, 22 silver, and 30 bronze, which became its largest ever medal tally in Olympic history. On August 17, 2008, China achieved its greatest ever Olympic performance when the women's table tennis team defeated

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

in the final to claim the nation's 33rd gold medal, surpassing the previous best tally of 32 at Athens 2004. ;Won all medals in one event * Women's singles table tennis * Men's singles table tennis ;Won all gold medals in one sport *

Table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

(4 gold) *

Trampoline A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled spring (device), springs. Not all trampolines have springs, as the Springfree Trampoline uses glass-reinforced plastic rods. ...

(2 gold) ;Won gold medals in both men's and women's events where only one entry is allowed * Synchronized 3 metre springboard diving * Synchronized 10 metre platform diving * Team all-around gymnastics * Team table tennis

Archery

As the host nation, China automatically received a full complement of six quota spots (three for men, three for women) for the archery competitions. China's national selection competition resulted in Xue Haifeng, Jiang Lin and

Li Wenquan Li Wenquan (; born 18 January 1986 in Guangxi) is a male archer from Gaotian village, Yangshuo County, Guilin City in the People's Republic of China. 2008 Summer Olympics At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Li finished his ranking roun ...

taking the three men's spots, while

Zhang Juanjuan Zhang Juanjuan (; born January 2, 1981 in Qingdao, Shandong, People's Republic of China) is an archer from the People's Republic of China. Early and personal life Zhang was born on 2 January 1982 in the Chinese city of Qingdao in Shandong P ...

Chen Ling Chen Ling (; born June 16, 1987 in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) is a female archer from the People's Republic of China. 2008 Summer Olympics At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Chen finished her ranking round with a total of 645 points. This gave ...

and

Guo Dan Guo Dan may refer to: * Guo Dan (archer) * Guo Dan (speed skater) Guo Dan (; ; born 6 December 1990) is a Chinese female roller skater who is also specialised in speed skating. She took the sport of roller skating at the age of three and has c ...

earned the women's spots. Xue and Zhang were both veteran athletes from 2004 Athens, with the latter taking China's fourth silver medal in archery. On August 14,

became the first Chinese archer to win a gold medal in the women's individual event. ;Men ;Women

Athletics

;Men ;Track & road events ;Field events ;Combined events –

Decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

;Women ;Track & road events ;Field events ;Combined events –

Heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

* The athlete who finished in second place,

Lyudmila Blonska Lyudmyla Leonidivna Blonska, née Shevchuk ( uk, Людмила Леонідівна Блонська (Шевчук)), sometimes known as Lyudmila Blonskaya, (born November 9, 1977) is a Ukrainian former heptathlete, pentathlete, and long jumper. ...

of the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, tested positive for a banned substance. Both the A and the B tests were positive, therefore Blonska was stripped of her silver medal, and Liu Haili moved up a position.

Badminton

;Men ;Women ;Mixed

Baseball

The

China national baseball team The China national baseball team is the national representative team of China. Results and fixtures The following is a list of professional baseball match results currently active in the latest version of the WBSC World Rankings, as well as any ...

secured automatic qualification as host nation of the Olympics and makes its first appearance at the Olympics. The team's coach is American

Jim Lefebvre James Kenneth Lefebvre ( ; born January 7, 1942) is a former major league baseball player, coach, and manager. An infielder, he was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1962. Baseball career Playing career Lefebvre was th ...

. A team of 24 players competed. ;Group stage All times are

China Standard Time The time in China follows a single standard time offset of UTC+08:00 (eight hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time), even though the country spans almost five geographical time zones. The official national standard time is called ''Beijing Tim ...

(

UTC+8 UTC+08:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +08:00. With an estimated population of 1.708 billion living within the time zone, roughly 24% of the world population, it is the most populous time zone in the world, as well as a ...

)

Basketball

Men's tournament

;Roster ;Group play ;Quarterfinals

Women's tournament

;Roster ;Group play ;Quarterfinals ;Semifinals ;Bronze medal match

Boxing

China qualified ten boxers for the Olympic boxing tournament, far surpassing its guaranteed quota of at least six spots. The flyweight class was the only in which China did not qualify a boxer. Seven of the ten Chinese qualifiers did so at the world championships. Hu, Maimaitituersun and Zhang Xiaoping qualified at the first Asian continental qualifying tournament.

Canoeing

Slalom

Sprint

;Men ;Women Qualification Legend: QS = Qualify to semi-final; QF = Qualify directly to final

Cycling

Road

Track

;Sprint ;Keirin ;Omnium

Mountain biking

BMX

Diving

;Men ;Women

Equestrian

Dressage

Eventing

Show jumping

Fencing

;Men ;Women

Field hockey

Men's tournament

China's men's team competed in Pool A. Sixteen players were officially enrolled in the squad.XXIXth Olympic Games Tournament Regulations - Men's and Women's Hockey Competitions
Two reserve players were also nominated to be available should a player enrolled in the official squad become injured during the tournament. ;Roster ;Group play ;11th–12th place

Women's tournament

China's women's team competed in Pool A. Sixteen players were officially enrolled in the squad. Two reserve players were also nominated to be available should a player enrolled in the official squad become injured during the tournament. ;Roster ;Group play ;Semifinal ;Gold medal match

Football

Men's tournament

A squad of 18 players, 15 of which must have been born on or after 1 January 1985, and 3 of which can be older dispensation players, was selected to represent China at the Games. A minimum of two goalkeepers (plus one optional dispensation goalkeeper) had to be included in the squad. ;Roster ;Group play

Women's tournament

A squad of 18 players competed for China in the women's competition. ;Roster ;Group play ;Quarterfinals

Gymnastics

Artistic

;Men ;Team ;Individual finals ;Women ;Team * Only two gymnasts per country may advance to a final. ;Individual finals

Rhythmic

Trampoline

Handball

Men's tournament

The men's handball team had competed for the first time at the Olympics. China was drawn in Group A with Poland, France, Croatia, Brazil and Spain. ;Roster ;Group play;Group play

Women's tournament

;Roster ;Group play ;Quarterfinal ;Classification semifinal ;5th–6th place

Judo

;Men ;Women

Modern pentathlon

Rowing

China qualified for 11 of the total 14 rowing events.

Zhang Liang Zhang Liang is the romanization of common names like 張良, 張亮 and 張梁. 張良 * Zhang Liang (Western Han) (died 189 BC), early Han dynasty strategist ** Zhang Liang, an animation character from the animated TV series ''The Legend of Qin'' ...

was disqualified from the men's single sculls after he forgot the time of his race and failed to turn to the right heat. When Liang finally arrived to take part in the single scull the competition had already finished. "I wrongly remembered my time as that of the third group, but actually it was the second group", he explained. The rules of the

International Rowing Federation World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation (former abbreviation FISA; french: Fédération internationale des sociétés d'aviron), is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who ...

say if an athlete fails to attend a race he forfeits his right to compete in further races. Therefore, Zhang not only missed the single sculls but also forfeited his right to compete in the double sculls. This meant his action had also automatically disqualified his teammate Su Hui. The China Water Sports Administration appealed the decision but the plea was rejected. "This shows we still have some problems in team organization", commented Wei Di, the director of China's water sports programs. ;Men ;Women Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Sailing

China has qualified for all 11 sailing events. ;Men ;Women ;Open M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race; CAN = Race cancelled

Shooting

;Men ;Women

Softball

A squad of 15 players made up China's women's team at the Games. The team finished sixth in the group stage and did not advance to the medal matches. All times are

(

) ;Results Group stage All times are

(

)

Swimming

;Men ;Women *Participated in the heats only and received medal.

Synchronized swimming

China finished fourth at the 2007 world championships and hoped to medal in the event for the first time ever at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Chinese were coached by

Masayo Imura Masayo Imura (; born August 16, 1950, in Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special ...

, the legendary Japanese synchronized swimming instructor.

Table tennis

;Men's singles ;Women's singles ;Team

Taekwondo

* After a successful appeal by the British, judges reversed the result of the match, granting

Sarah Stevenson Sarah Diana Stevenson, MBE (born 30 March 1983) is a British taekwondo athlete. A world champion in 2001, Stevenson won her country's first ever Olympic medal in taekwondo, a bronze, at the 2008 Games in Beijing, her third Ol ...

two points for a final round kick to her opponent's head which the judges had previously missed. The reversal of the decision, after video footage was considered, is thought to be a first for the sport.

Tennis

;Men ;Women

Triathlon

Volleyball

Beach

Indoor

China qualified a team in both the men's and the women's tournaments. The men's team won two of their five group matches, and advanced to the final round, where they lost in the quarterfinal. The women's team won three of their five group matches, and also advanced to the final round. There, they won the quarterfinal, but lost the semifinal. They managed to win their last match, thereby securing the bronze medal.

Men's tournament

;Roster ;Preliminary round ;Quarterfinal

Women's tournament

;Roster ;Preliminary round ;Quarterfinal ;Semifinal ;Bronze medal match

Water polo

China participated in both the men's and the women's tournaments. The men's team finished in 12th place, while the women's team finished in 5th place.

Men's tournament

;Roster ;Group play All times are

(

). ;Classification round ;Classification quarter-final ;Classification 11th–12th

Women's tournament

;Roster ;Group play All times are

(

). ;Quarterfinal ;Classification 5th–6th

Weightlifting

China automatically qualifies for 6 men's and 4 women's places. ;Men ;Women

Wrestling

;Men's freestyle ;Men's Greco-Roman *

Sheng Jiang Sheng Jiang (; born March 25, 1983) is a retired Greco-Roman wrestler from China. In 2006 he won silver medals at the Asian Games and Asian Championships. He competed at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics with the best result of a bronze medal in ...

originally finished fifth, but in November 2016, he was promoted to bronze due to disqualification of

Vitaliy Rahimov Vitaliy Medzhidovich Rahimov (russian: Вита́лий Меджи́дович Раги́мов born 27 August 1984, Meghri, Armenian SSR) is an Azerbaijani athlete. Rahimov moved with his family to Azerbaijan in 1990. He has been trai ...

. ;Women's freestyle

Media coverage

The main rights to Olympic coverage in China are held by

China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different channels broadcast a variety of programing to more than one billion viewers in six lan ...

(CCTV). The 2008 Summer Olympics will be the first ever to be broadcast in high definition (HDTV). Besides HDTV, CCTV will broadcast in

digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previou ...

TV. Live broadcasts will run on

CCTV-1 CCTV-1 (CCTV General Channel) is the primary channel of CCTV, the national flagship terrestrial television network of the People's Republic of China. It broadcasts a range of programs from CCTV Headquarters at East 3rd Ring Road in Beijing and ...

CCTV-5 CCTV-5 (), also known as the Sports Channel, part of the China Central Television family of networks, is the main sports broadcaster in the People's Republic of China. CCTV-5 began broadcasting on 1 January 1995. CCTV-5 now broadcasts 24 hours ...

and CCTV-12, with re-run broadcasts on

CCTV-2 CCTV-2 is a Chinese free-to-air television channel operated by China Central Television in the People's Republic of China. The channel broadcasts programs on the economy and life services. History CCTV-2 was launched in 1973 as China's fir ...

and

CCTV-7 CCTV-7 is a Chinese free-to-air television channel owned by China Central Television. The channel primarily carries programming devoted to the People's Liberation Army. Prior to 1 August 2019, the channel also carried agriculture-related programm ...

. CCTV.com, the only official Beijing Olympic Games mobile phone and Internet broadcast platform on the mainland and Macao, will broadcast 3,800 hours of the Olympic Games. CCTV will follow the homegrown

mobile TV Mobile television is television watched on a small handheld or mobile device. It includes service delivered via mobile phone networks, received free-to-air via terrestrial television stations, or via satellite broadcast. Regular broadcast stand ...

China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting (CMMB) is a mobile television and multimedia standard developed and specified in China by the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT). It is based on the Satellite and Terrestrial Interacti ...

(CMMB) standard.

China Telecom China Telecom Corp., Ltd. is a Chinese telecommunications company. It is one of the red chip listed companies of state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation. Its H shares have been traded on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 15 Nove ...

China Netcom China Netcom, full name China Netcom Group Corporation (Hong Kong) Limited (former stock codes: HKEX:0906, NYSE:CN), abbreviated CNC, was a telecommunication service provider in People's Republic of China. It was formed in August 1999 by the Chine ...

and

Shanghai Media Group Radio and Television Station of Shanghai (RTS), a Shanghai-based state media outlet, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Shanghai Media Group (SMG), represent one of China's largest state-owned media and cultural conglomerates, with the most compl ...

will broadcast using

Internet Protocol television Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded media, ...

(IPTV) services. Radio coverage will be provided by

China National Radio China National Radio (CNR; ; pronunciation: ) is the national radio network of China, headquartered in Beijing. History The infrastructure began with a transmitter from Moscow to set up its first station in Yan'an (延安). It used the call ...

(CNR).

China Mobile China Mobile is the trade name of both China Mobile Limited () and its ultimate controlling shareholder, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. (, formerly known as China Mobile Communications Corporation, "CMCC"), a Chinese state-ownedSt ...

will also enable subscribers to catch live results and data. Major Chinese Internet portals have signed coverage deals with CCTV.com to be Internet Content Services Sponsors:

Sina.com Sina Corporation (, "new wave") is a Chinese technology company. Sina operates four major business lines: Sina Weibo, Sina Mobile, Sina Online, and Sinanet. Sina has over 100 million registered users worldwide. Sina was recognized by '' South ...

, Netease.com,

Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...

and

Sohu.com Sohu, Inc. () is a Chinese Internet company headquartered in the Sohu Internet Plaza in Haidian District, Beijing. Sohu and its subsidiaries offer advertising, a search engine (Sogou.com), on-line multiplayer gaming (ChangYou.com) and other se ...

. CCTV has joined with these online partners to run an interactive website offering streaming video broadcasts of events, which will be viewable only in China, and web profiles through which users can contact Olympic athletes. Officials expect 10m to 20m internet users to watch the Olympic Games in China via

video streaming Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

. 102m people had watched the games online in China, according to Timo Lumme, marketing director for the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

Phoenix TV Phoenix Television is a majority state-owned television network that offers Mandarin and Cantonese-language channels that serve mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and other markets with substantial Chinese-language viewers. It is operated by ...

broadcast the

Opening Ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

Kit sponsorship

China competed in all 28 Olympic sports. US sportswear company

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

has a sponsorship deal with 22 Chinese sports associations to provide outfits for those Olympic teams at the Beijing Games. Germany's

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

has the endorsement rights for China's volleyball and football teams while Chinese company

Li-Ning Li-Ning Company Limited is a Chinese sportswear and sports equipment company founded by former Olympic gymnast Li Ning. The company endorses a number of athletes and teams worldwide. History The company was founded in 1989 by Li Ning, a former ...

is the provider of the shooting, gymnastics, diving and table tennis teams. Yonex is the main sponsor of the China Badminton Team.

References

Beijing 2008
-

China Daily ''China Daily'' () is an English-language daily newspaper owned by the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Overview ''China Daily'' has the widest print circulation of any English-language newspaper in China. T ...

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Chinese Sports Delegation Roster
- China Interactive Sports {{DEFAULTSORT:China At The 2008 Summer Olympics Nations at the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Medalists

Archery

Athletics

Badminton

Baseball

Basketball

Men's tournament

Women's tournament

Boxing

Canoeing

Slalom

Sprint

Cycling

Road

Track

Mountain biking

BMX

Diving

Equestrian

Dressage

Eventing

Show jumping

Fencing

Field hockey

Men's tournament

Women's tournament

Football

Men's tournament

Women's tournament

Gymnastics

Artistic

Rhythmic

Trampoline

Handball

Men's tournament

Women's tournament

Judo

Modern pentathlon

Rowing

Sailing

Shooting

Softball

Swimming

Synchronized swimming

Table tennis

Taekwondo

Tennis

Triathlon

Volleyball

Beach

Indoor

Men's tournament

Women's tournament

Water polo

Men's tournament

Women's tournament

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Media coverage

Kit sponsorship

See also

References

External links