adminRIO DE JANEIRO. — China blamed fierce competition for their Rio flop and promised to examine their “shortcomings” after slumping to their worst Olympic performance in 20 years.
China sent 410 athletes, their biggest team at a foreign Olympics, but by the penultimate day they had won just 26 gold medals, their fewest since Atlanta 1996.
Worse, China trailed not only the United States but also Britain on the medals table, a fact that has prompted splutterings of indignation in Chinese media.
China topped the table in 2008 and were second in 2004 and 2012, but Chinese Olympic committee chief Liu Peng said rising standards had taken them by surprise. — AFP.
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