China’s record-breaking Asian Games spark introspection despite dominance ahead of Olympics

Midway through the Asian Games, China’s sports minister felt the need to issue a rallying cry despite the country again overwhelmingly dominating proceedings.

A week into competition, the delegation had already racked up 125 gold medals, won more swimming titles than ever before and were so far clear of the rest that one American press outlet half-jokingly suggested changing the name to the China Games.

In the final reckoning on Sunday, China’s tally was as follows: 169 gold, 89 silver and 83 bronze medals for a total of 341. Their nearest challengers, Japan, could not even muster half the number of golds, and in overall terms finished 72 behind at the end of the Games.

Still, Gao Zhidan, the team’s chef de mission in Japan and president of the Chinese Olympic Committee, was obliged to address what was seen by those at home as some disappointing performances in disciplines where their athletes have traditionally been strong, among them table tennis, badminton and weightlifting.