Last Wednesday, the Chinese Olympic delegation (中国奥运代表团 zhōng guó ào yùn dài biǎo tuán) for the Tokyo 2020 Games was gathered for a meeting in Beijing.

The entrance of the General Administration of Sports of China, where the expedition meeting was held, was decorated with slogans. One of the slogans was:

拿道德的金牌，     ná dào dé de jīn pái,     take the gold medal for moral,

拿风格的金牌，     ná fēng gé de jīn pái,     take the gold medal for style,

拿干净的金牌。     ná gān jìng de jīn pái.     take the gold medal for integrity.

奥运会金牌 (ào yùn huì jīn pái, Olympic gold medal) is the ambition of every Olympic athlete. China is one of the ten countries in the world with the most medals in total, and also one of the ten countries in the world with the most gold medals. But achievements in previous Games are not enough. Every Olympics brings new excitement and aspirations for first place.

The Tokyo Olympic Games will start on July 23^th. The first opportunity for a medal is the women 10 meters air rifle competition that will take place the next day. China is represented in this shooting competition by two women. Two out of the 431 athletes that will represent (代表 dài biǎo) China in the Tokyo Olympics (东京奥运会 dōng jīng ào yùn huì), its largest ever overseas team.

东京奥运会中国代表团总人数为431运动员，女运动员298人、男运动员133人。

Dōng jīng ào yùn huì zhōng guó dài biǎo tuán zǒng rén shù wèi 431 yùn dòng yuán, nǚ yùn dòng yuán 298 rén, nán yùn dòng yuán 133 rén.

The total number of the Chinese delegation for the Tokyo Olympics is 431 athletes, including 298 female athletes and 133 male athletes.

A new campaign to cheer the Olympic Chinese stars (奥运中国星 ào yùn zhōng guó xīng) went viral last week. In the campaign, pictures of different athletes in action were published. Wang Zongyuan, for example, with eyes shut, hands embracing the legs, while diving into the swimming pool. Li Yingying in another picture looking upward, bending her hand before hitting the volleyball. The pictures were followed with the slogan: 00后，出征！  The phrase 00后 (00 hòu) refers to youngsters born after 2000 and before 2009. The phrase 出征 (chū zhēng) is a shortening of 外出征战 (wài chū zhēng zhàn), which means go out to fight.

The youngest among China’s large expedition was born in 2007. Quan Hongchan is a 14-year-old diver, who started diving at age of seven, and is already seen as a medal hope. For the young girl from the countryside, a daughter of two farmers, the Olympics will be her debut international competition. But, of course, not all of the 431 Chinese athletes were born in this millennium. The oldest athlete in the Chinese delegation is Li Zhenqiang, a 53-year-old equestrian.

运动员平均年龄25.4岁。

Yùn dòng yuán píng jūn nián líng 25.4 suì.

The average age of the athletes is 25.4 years old.

Our delegation is well prepared and ready to go, said Liu Guoyong, secretary-general of the delegation. The Chinese athletes will live up to everyone’s expectations, he promised. But, due to the worldwide pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Games won’t be the usual Olympic carnival. As one netizen wrote:

金牌无所谓，本就不是正常的奥运会，盼你们平安归来。

Jīn pái wú suǒ wèi, běn jiù bù shì zhèng cháng de ào yùn huì, pàn nǐ men píng ān guī lái.

The gold medal doesn’t matter, this is not a normal Olympics. I hope you will return safely.

From the expedition meeting:

 

Text vocabulary

奥运会 (ào yùn huì) = Olympic Games

东京 (Dōng jīng) = Tokyo

代表团 (dài biǎo tuán) = delegation

代表(dài biǎo) = to represent

运动员 (yùn dòng yuán) = athlete

金牌 (jīn pái) = gold medal

年龄 (nián líng) = age

 

中国星， 加油！

Zhōng guó xīng, jiā yóu!

Good luck, China’s stars!  

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