THE SUCCESS OF CELESTIAL ATHLETES AT THE OLYMPICS IN PARIS AS A REFLECTION OF TODAY’S CHINA – ENERGETIC AND SELF-CONFIDENT

XXXIII The Summer Olympic Games in Paris once again demonstrated the success of Chinese athletes, which is largely the merit of the CPC, whose systematic work in all segments of Chinese society in the context of the modernization of the Celestial Empire since the early 1980s. allowed us to achieve outstanding and impressive results. So, at the 2024 Summer Olympics year in Paris, China was represented by 388 participants in 33 sports. The result was 40 gold, 27 silver, 24 bronze medals (91 medals in total) and second overall team place. If we add here the medals of Hong Kong, which competed as a separate team ( 36 athletes in 12 sports) – 2 gold and 2 bronze medals, then we can safely say that China took 1st place (1).

In a country with a five-thousand-year history, sports have always been in the spotlight. The development of physical culture in China was greatly influenced by natural philosophical views, in particular, “Tao Te Ching” (道德經, VI – V centuries BC ) . According to Taoist principles, a person should maintain physical and spiritual harmony through physical and breathing exercises. In addition, during that period, much attention was paid to the military training of the population, which was based on the ability to run fast, shoot accurately at a target, master hand-to-hand combat techniques (for example, Chan Quan , etc.), horse racing, etc. It should be said that the Chinese have always understood and understand that health is a good state of physical, mental and social adaptation, which is determined not only by factors such as genetics, medical services, environment, but also by a person’s physical culture [ Sloboda H.​ Kind und Athlete sein in China . Talentsuche und forderung auf Chinesisch // China Journal. Sport und Gesellschaft in China, o. J. 2006. No. 2. S. ​22–256].

If before the formation of the People’s Republic of China, physical education and sports, being in the hands of wealthy citizens of the country, were used to generate profits and to entertain the privileged segments of the population, where the majority of the country’s residents were deprived of the opportunity to play sports, then after the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China (1949) the Communist Party of China and the People’s Government began to pay great attention to the development of physical education and sports. The main task of the physical culture movement was clearly defined, which was to strengthen the health of the people. After the creation of the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports under the Administrative Council (now the State Council) in 1953, as well as the decree of the CPC Central Committee (January 1954), strengthening the physical qualities of the people became one of the important political tasks of the party.

Since then, the development of physical culture and sports has become an integral part of the cultural life of the state: local physical education and sports committees will be established in provinces, cities, autonomous regions, districts and counties; sectoral mass sports societies and sports federations are created; new sports facilities are being built in Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu, Kunming (southwest China), Anshan, Changchun, Harbin (northeast China), Xi’an, Lanzhou (northwest China), Wuhan, Nanjing, Shanghai (cities in Yangtze River basin), Urumqi (Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region), Hohhot (Inner Mongolia), Lhasa (Tibet), etc. The activities of the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports of the People’s Republic of China and various sports organizations at different levels have radically changed the face of China in the field physical education and sports.

In September 1958, the CPC Central Committee developed a course for the further development of physical culture and sports. One of its results was the holding of the All-China Spartakiad (中华人民共和国全国运动会) in Beijing in September–October 1959 , in which more than 10 thousand athletes of different nationalities from different regions of the country took part, competing in more than 40 sports.

        First Summer The Olympics where Chinese athletes competed for the first time was the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, where China was represented by only one athlete (swimming). However in 1956, in connection with the introduction of Taiwan into the membership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) , which violated the “one China” principle, the National Olympic Committee of the People’s Republic of China in 1958 broke all ties with the IOC [ China and the Olympic Movement // http:/ /www.china.org.cn ­/english/olympic/211765.htm ]. Therefore, from 1956 and due to a dispute over the political status of Taiwan, the PRC did not participate in the Olympic Games until the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid (1980). The Chinese team appeared at the Summer Olympics only in 1984 in Los Angeles.

So the story the development of physical culture and sports in the modern history of China up to 1984, we can divide into five main stages: in the first period (1930-1948), physical education and sports have a military-applied nature and are considered as one of the means of fighting Japanese imperialism; the second period (1949-1956) is characterized by historical changes and programmatic development of mass sports; third period (1956-1965) – the initial period of development of elite sports; the fourth period (1970s) is marked by the development of elite sports and the beginning of China’s international participation in various sports activities; from the beginning of the fifth period (1980s), China claims to be recognized as a world sports power by the Celestial Empire [Sagalaev A.S., Durinov A.E., Khamaganov B.P. Asian model of physical culture and sports management // Bulletin of the Buryat State University. 2011. No. 13. P. 131].

Started in China in the late 1970s and early 1980s. “the policy of reform and opening up”, the construction of “socialism with Chinese characteristics” opened up the opportunity for the Celestial Empire to once again take part in the Olympic movement and show the whole world the skill of Chinese athletes. At the Los Angeles Games, China became one of three socialist countries to take part (along with Romania and Yugoslavia), since the games were boycotted by most socialist countries, led by the USSR (due to the US boycott of the previous Olympic Games in 1980, held in Moscow). In the absence of Soviet and other athletes from the countries that boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics, the athletes of the Celestial Empire performed more than worthy: the Chinese delegation, consisting of 216 people and taking part in competitions in 19 sports, won 15 gold medals (32 medals in total), becoming fourth in the medal standings.

The implementation of the “policy of reform and opening up” has significantly improved the living standards of Chinese citizens. Achieving a certain degree of material security led to an improvement in the quality of life, which in turn, together with an understanding of the need for spiritual self-improvement, led to the rooting in the minds of the Chinese of the idea that “health comes first.” Here, a return to the code of Confucius played a big role : “If you want to be healthy , create health for yourself,” which emphasizes the spiritual strength of a person who can improve himself by the power of his will. And it is no coincidence that today in the public gardens of Chinese cities you can see dozens of elderly people performing complexes of “Tai Chi” (太太拳), a popular national plastic gymnastics.

Following the development of mass sports in the country, achievements also appeared in big-time sports, and the results were not long in coming. Thus, at the Summer Asian Games (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998), Chinese athletes became leaders in gold medals (2). In July 2001, a plenary meeting of the International Olympic Committee was held in Moscow, where a decision was made to hold the XXIX Summer Olympic Games in 2008 in the capital of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing. In anticipation of the decision to hold the XXIX Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, numerous mass sports and sports and recreational events were held in various cities and provinces of China. The Olympic movement was promoted in the media.

Thanks to the socio-economic reforms carried out by the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing went down in history as “an incomparable Olympics” (IOC President J. Roget): 38 world records were broken 49 times and 85 Olympic records were updated 139 times. The Games in Beijing became a phenomenal success for the Chinese people and Chinese sports: having become the most representative team (639 athletes), the Chinese athletes took first place in the team event, winning 48 gold, 22 silver and 30 bronze medals (100 medals in total).

Achievements of Chinese athletes at the Summer Olympics (1984 – 2024)

Today, mass physical culture is the state strategy of China. After the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008, the main task in the development of the PRC’s sports industry in the post-Olympic era was the transformation of China from a “strong country in sports to a sports power”. This, in particular, was manifested in the emergence of modern trends in the development of sports in the PRC: the desire for pluralism, decentralization and commercialization; development of the sports industry; strengthening the representation and influence of the PRC in international sports organizations; high activity in the development of mass sports, from the establishment of the National Day of Physical Culture to the official adoption by the State Council of the country of five-year plans for the development of physical education among the population. Thanks to state policy and the development of mass sports, reforms carried out in the country to improve the health of the people, good results have been achieved both in elite sports and in the economy and health care. Today, a powerful sports infrastructure has been created, which accounts for a significant share of China’s economic growth.

President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping in his report at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China “Holding high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, unitedly strive for the comprehensive construction of a modernized socialist state” On October 16, 2022, he noted that “… our party and the multinational people of the country, having embarked on a new campaign towards the comprehensive construction of a modernized socialist state, began to move towards the implementation of the goal set for the centenary of the PRC.” Therefore, according to the Chinese leader: “It is important to widely deploy nationwide health promotion activities, strengthen the sports education of youth and adolescents, promote the comprehensive development of mass and professional sports, and accelerate China’s transformation into a sports power”.

As we see, the successes of the Celestial Empire in the Olympic arenas of the planet are due to the care of the CPC and the Chinese government. In turn, the main factors that contributed to the Celestial Empire achieving success in the Summer Olympic Games over the past forty years (1984–2024) should be called ancient sports traditions; active state policy in the field of development of healthcare and sports; attracting investments; mobilization of a large number of human resources; use of the latest sports technologies from leading countries of the world; centralized training of athletes; the presence of huge and tough competition; development of children’s and youth sports; improving the network of sports structures of mass sports; the use of science in sports achievements and, most importantly, the high level of moral and volitional preparedness of Chinese athletes and their purposeful preparation, perceived by them as a national and state task, which was once again shown by the Olympic Games in Paris. Paris witnessed the latest achievements of China in sports. The athletic prowess of Chinese athletes is a reflection of today’s China: energetic and confident!

Source

Erkin Baidarov, specially for China Studies Centre.