Chinese women win gold in clash with Serbia

China’s players attend the awarding ceremony for the women’s final of Volleyball at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 20, 2016.

Lang Ping became the first person to win Olympic gold as both a player and as a coach. Many more hugs followed.

The come-from-behind 19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23 victory also allowed the Chinese to equal Japan and the Soviets on 6 medals overall in the discipline.

China took down the two-time defending Olympic champion Brazilian women on their home turf in Tuesday’s quarter-finals to show that this team had arrived – and, until Saturday night, that had been China’s shining moment.

Rio de Janeiro: China put a courageous face on their worst Olympics for 20 years but they will work hard to make sure they aren’t embarrassed again in 2020 – when the Games are hosted by arch-rivals Japan. He trained Shawn Johnson-winner of the women’s balance-beam contest at the 2008 Beijing Olympics-then helped USA gymnast Gabrielle Douglas to win gold in the women’s individual all-around event in 2012 in London. And last but perhaps the most significant, cupping, a traditional Chinese medical therapy to relax muscles. “Before the tournament I never thought that we could win the gold”, Lang said.

Liu said inexperience particularly had cost China, whose team was young with three-quarters of them competing at their first Olympics. Were not arrogant when we win, we dont give up easily and we continue to strive forward, ” he said.

“The less satisfactory results from specific sports reminded us that no one can lay on the past glories and keep winning without further efforts”, he said in remarks quoted by state news agency Xinhua. You never know, our young players, at the beginning of the tournament we didn’t play well.

Serbia had pulled off an improbable upset of its own by taking down the top-ranked US women in a thrilling five-set semifinal Thursday. Growing prosperity plays a role in a more balanced attitude, with fewer people needing to leverage sporting ability to overcome economic obstacles to progress. Of the 45 swimmers representing China in the pool, it was only Sun Yang who took home gold, in the 200-meter freestyle event.

Its delegation included 35 Olympic gold medalists – 27 from the London Games – and Beijing hopes soared as one of China’s biggest competitors, Russia, had seen its medal hopes seriously hit by the International Olympic Committee’s decision to ban many of its athletes on suspicion of doping. The Serbians showed they weren’t happy to just be in the match after upsetting the United States in the semifinals, and took the first set 25-19.