Beijing: The head of China's Olympic delegation said on Sunday a new generation of athletes and breakthroughs in unfamiliar sports were behind the country's dominance at the Beijing Games.
China emerged for the first time in its history as the dominant power in world sport at the Beijing Games, winning the gold medal count ahead of the United States and Russia.
"The achievements we have made in this Olympic Games are a very important driving force for the future," said Liu Peng, China's chef-de-mission and sports minister.
He said that two-thirds of China's delegation of 639 athletes were competing in the Olympics for the first time and the newcomers won 29 individual gold medals while forming the backbone of Chinese teams that won four more golds.
"These freshmen are becoming the main force of Chinese sports success," he said.
In his final press conference summing up China's performance, Liu said the delegation had fulfilled national aspirations.
"Our Chinese sports delegation has completed satisfactorily our task at the Olympic Games," he said.
"We have achieved great sports results. This is the best performance since China began competing in the Olympics."
He particularly praised the spirit shown by athletes like Du Li, favourite to win the first gold of the Games.
But the shooter from Shandong province melted under pressure and finished fifth in the women' 10m air pistol.
However, six days later she "walked out of the shadow of defeat" to win a gold medal in another shooting event, Liu said.
He said that China achieved its dominance in part because it remained true to its traditional strengths like table tennis, badminton, diving, weightlifting and shooting while becoming more competitive in unfamiliar sports where it was usually week.
He pointed to "historical breakthroughs" in sports like archery, where China won its first gold medal, rowing and canoing, where China is emerging as a world force, as well as fencing and sailing.
In Athens, China came second to the United States in the gold medal count with 32 to 36 for the United States.
Liu said that in Greece China won medals in 55 events in 18 disciplines. In Beijing that had expanded to 81 events in 20 disciplines.
The chef-de-mission added that an important aspect of China's performance was that no athlete had tested positive for drugs.
"The Chinese sports delegation has adhered to the stringent policy on anti-doping," he said.
"There was not one positive test. So we have achieved a clean Games and safeguarded the purity of the Olympics, the reputation of the Chinese sports delegation as well as the image of the country."
For the future, he said China needed to improve in track and field, swimming, and cycling.
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