With the Tokyo Olympics approaching, China's sports world's "three big balls" programs, women's volleyball, women's basketball and women's soccer, have been in fierce competition. Men's soccer, men's basketball and men's volleyball regrettably stopped, triggering a hot debate about the impact of these programs in the Olympic arena. So how did these programs fare at the Olympics? And what are their future goals?
The first concern is China's women's volleyball team, which, as the leading force of the "three big balls", is embarking on the road to Olympic gold for the fourth time.
From the point of view of competitive results, China's women's volleyball team undoubtedly occupies the first place in the "three big balls". They have achieved success in international competitions, especially in the Olympic Games, but also in the hands of ten crowns, becoming a common memory of the people of the country. 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, China's women's volleyball team for the first time to win the title, and since then, in the Athens and Rio Olympic Games, they were once again on the top, showing a strong athletic strength.
At the Tokyo Olympics, China's women's volleyball team is once again the favorite to win the championship. Led by Lang Ping, Zhu Ting and other key players returned, and the coaching team finalized the 12-player list after the actual selection. Facing Serbia, the United States and other strong teams, China's women's volleyball team's fourth Olympic gold rush road is full of challenges.
Next, a word about our men's basketball team.
Our men's basketball team had dominated Asia for a long time and was regarded as a regular in the Olympics. But this Tokyo Olympics, they are not in the main round for the first time, which has become a big regret of our delegation.The poor performance in the 2019 Basketball World Cup led to the loss of their chance to go straight to Tokyo. This absence from the Olympics has also made the choice of our delegation's flag bearer for the opening ceremony a major mystery.
Look again at our women's soccer team.
The women's soccer program has gradually risen to prominence on the international stage since its debut at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where our women's soccer team won a silver medal and became the pride of China's sports scene. At this year's Olympics, our women's soccer team is aiming to break into the top eight again, and the new and old lineup will be led by star Wang Frost to work hard to achieve this goal.
China's women's basketball team, as another important force of the "three big balls", the performance of the Olympic Games has also attracted much attention.
The country's women's basketball team made its Olympic debut in 1984, when they won the silver medal at the Los Angeles Olympics. Since then, China's women's basketball team has made repeated successes in the Olympic Games, but in recent years, the results have slipped. In this year's Olympics, our women's basketball team is aiming to make an impact on the top four, and they have a tough task ahead of them in the face of many strong opponents.
It is worth noting that our men's soccer team has been underperforming in the Olympics.
Since 1992, the Olympic men's soccer program has been changed to include players under the age of 23. Although our men's soccer team made it to the main round twice, in 1988 and 2008, they failed to achieve good results. In order to improve its strength, China's Football Association introduced the U23 policy, but the effect was not obvious. In this year's Olympic Games, our men's soccer team was again absent, and did not reach the main round for three consecutive years.
Finally, a word about our men's volleyball team.
Our men's volleyball team has never been able to enter the main round of the Olympic Games, except for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In this year's Olympics, China's men's volleyball team has once again missed out on Olympic qualification, but they have begun to prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympics under the leadership of coach Wu Sheng.
