Before the London 2012 Games China said they would struggle to match
USA in the medals table but there is nothing between the two nations at
the halfway point
They have had badminton players sent home for losing on purpose, a
brilliant swimming prodigy caught up in a swirl of doping allegations
and a gold snatched away from them in the women’s cycling team sprint.
But in the wake of an eventful week, China remain on course for an
epic tussle with the USA atop the medal table in the second half of the
London Games. At the halfway mark, just two medals separated the
superpowers in both the gold medal total and the overall tally and on
Sunday morning they were tied on 54 medals, with the USA having won one
more gold.
The USA have traditionally relied heavily on its dominance in the
pool to provide a solid base for its track and field stars in the second
week of the Olympics. Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Missy Franklin and
Tyler Clary have helped maintain that tradition but Ye Shiwen and Sun
Yang have not allowed them to have things all their own way.
The huge investment put into Chinese sport over the years has also started to pay dividends in sports such as track cycling.
Gong Jinjie and Guo Shuang thought they had won gold in the team
sprint on Thursday but, in much the same manner as the British pair
Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish earlier in the day, found themselves
relegated for an illegal changeover and ended up with silver.
USA will be looking to the athletics in the main stadium, the rest of
the swimming competition and beach and indoor volleyball for medals.
China, meanwhile, are traditionally strong in gymnastics, badminton,
weightlifting and table tennis. The rivalry between the two nations was
intensified this week by the row over whether Ye’s performance in the
400m individual medley was “unbelievable”.
Ye herself said that the allegations were evidence of “bias” against
China, with her supporters pointing out that other countries have
multiple medallists and teenagers who have posted rapid improvements in
their times.
The US Olympic Committee was forced to distance itself from the
allegations, making clear the views of swimming coach John Leonard did
not match their own. Before the Games, Chinese officials tried to play
down their chances of beating the US in the medal table.
Xiao Tian, the deputy chef de mission, said the 396-strong team faced
“unprecedented difficulties” in matching their feat of Beijing and
topping the medal table.
Duan Shijie, another deputy chef de mission of the Chinese Olympic
delegation, also urged caution. “USA will be the top country, and we may
even have difficulty gaining second place,” he said.
In 2008, they easily beat USA, topping the medal tally with 51 golds compared to 36 for the Americans.
The race is expected to be closer this time but many believe that the
huge sums and intense focus poured into developing homegrown talent for
the eight years leading into the Beijing Games will pay off for China.
The London 2012 chairman, Lord Coe, said before the Games that he
thought that China would top the medal table, followed by the USA and
Russia.
