China at the 2004 Summer Olympics


China competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's ninth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1952. A total of 384 Chinese athletes, 136 men and 248 women, were selected by the Chinese Olympic Committee to compete in 28 sports. For the third time in its Olympic history, China was represented by more female than male athletes.
China left Athens with a total of 63 Olympic medals – 32 golds, 17 silver, and 14 bronze – finishing third in the overall medal standings and second only to the United States in the gold medal tally. The Chinese delegation proved particularly successful in several sports, winning nine medals each in diving and shooting, eight in weightlifting, six in table tennis, and five each in badminton and judo. Chinese athletes dominated in badminton, diving, and table tennis, where they each won gold medals in most sporting events. Three Chinese athletes managed to defend their titles from the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, while six of them won more than a single medal in Athens. China's team-based athletes came strong and successful in Athens, as the women's volleyball team managed to strike the Russians for the gold medal.
Among the nation's medalists were hurdler Liu Xiang, who emerged as China's first male athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in men's track and field, badminton player Zhang Ning in the women's singles, diving tandem Wu Minxia and Guo Jingjing in the women's synchronized platform, and tennis players Li Ting and Sun Tiantian, who became the first Asians to capture an Olympic title in the women's doubles. Badminton player Gao Ling, who won a gold and a silver in both the mixed doubles with Zhang Jun and the women's doubles with Huang Sui, became the most decorated Chinese athlete in the sporting history with a total of four Olympic medals. Along with Zhang Jun and Gao Ling for their Olympic defense campaign, taekwondo jin Chen Zhong successfully repeated her gold medal from Sydney in the women's heavyweight division.
With Beijing being the host city of the 2008 Summer Olympics, a traditional Chinese segment was performed during the closing ceremony.

Medalists

MedalNameSportEventDate

DivingMen's 10 m synchronized platform

DivingWomen's 3 m synchronized springboard
ShootingMen's 10 m air pistol
ShootingWomen's 10 m air rifle
JudoWomen's 52 kg

DivingWomen's 10 m synchronized platform
ShootingMen's 10 m air rifle
SwimmingWomen's 100 m breaststroke
Shi ZhiyongWeightliftingMen's 62 kg
WeightliftingWomen's 58 kg
WeightliftingMen's 69 kg
BadmintonWomen's singles
WeightliftingWomen's 69 kg

BadmintonMixed doubles

BadmintonWomen's doubles

Table tennisWomen's doubles

Table tennisMen's doubles
WeightliftingWomen's +75 kg
GymnasticsMen's pommel horse
Table tennisWomen's singles

TennisWomen's doubles
ShootingMen's 50 m rifle 3 positions
WrestlingWomen's freestyle 72 kg
DivingMen's 3 m springboard
DivingWomen's 3 m springboard
AthleticsMen's 110 m hurdles
AthleticsWomen's 10000 m
TaekwondoWomen's 67 kg

CanoeingMen's C-2 500 m
DivingMen's 10 m platform
TaekwondoWomen's +67 kg

VolleyballWomen's tournament
WeightliftingWomen's 48 kg
WeightliftingMen's 56 kg
ShootingMen's 10 m air rifle
WeightliftingMen's 62 kg
FencingMen's épée
FencingWomen's sabre




SwimmingWomen's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay
JudoWomen's 78 kg
ShootingWomen's skeet


ArcheryWomen's team

BadmintonWomen's doubles
CyclingWomen's track time trial



FencingMen's team foil
DivingWomen's 10 m platform
Table tennisMen's singles
SailingWomen's sailboard
DivingWomen's 3 m springboard
JudoWomen's 48 kg
ShootingMen's double trap
ShootingWomen's double trap
BadmintonWomen's singles
GymnasticsWomen's individual all-around
JudoWomen's 70 kg
ShootingWomen's 50 m rifle 3 positions

Table tennisWomen's doubles
GymnasticsWomen's trampoline
JudoWomen's +78 kg
GymnasticsMen's parallel bars
Table tennisMen's singles
DivingMen's 10 m platform
BoxingMen's light flyweight

Archery

Five Chinese archers qualified each for the men's and women's individual archery, and a spot for the women's team.
;Men
;Women

Athletics

Chinese athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events.
;Men
;Track & road events
;Field events
;Combined events – Decathlon
AthleteEvent100 m400 m1500 mFinalRank
Qi HaifengResult11.067.3413.551.9749.6514.7845.134.5060.794:32.63793418
Qi HaifengPoints847896701776831876770760750727793418

;Women
;Track & road events
;Field events
;Combined events – Heptathlon
AthleteEvent200 m800 mFinalRank
Shen ShengfeiResult14.181.7314.2226.0146.952:29.50494927
Shen ShengfeiPoints9538918097960801699494927

Badminton

;Men
;Women
;Mixed

Basketball

Men's tournament

;Roster
;Group play
;Quarterfinals
;Classification match

Women's tournament

;Roster
;Group play
;Classification match

Boxing

People's Republic of China sent six boxers to Athens. They won one bronze medal, with one other quarterfinalist. Their combined record was 6-6 as three boxers lost their first matches. They were in a five-way tie for 16th place in the medals board for boxing.

Canoeing

Slalom

Sprint

;Men
;Women
Qualification Legend: Q = Qualify to final; q = Qualify to semifinal

Cycling

Road

Track

;Time trial
AthleteEventTimeRank
Jiang YonghuaWomen's time trial34.112

;Omnium
AthleteEventPointsLapsRank
Li MeifangWomen's points race1014

Mountain biking

Diving

Chinese divers qualified for eight individual spots at the 2004 Olympic Games. Four Chinese synchronized diving teams qualified through the 2004 FINA Diving World Cup.
;Men
;Women

Fencing

;Men
;Women

Field hockey

Women's tournament

;Roster
;Group play
----
----
----
;Semifinals
;Bronze Medal match

Football

Women's tournament

;Roster
;Group play

Gymnastics

Artistic

;Men
;Team
;Individual finals
;Women
;Team
;Individual finals

Rhythmic

Trampoline

Handball

Women's tournament

;Roster
;Group play
;Quarterfinal
;5th-8th Place Classification
;7th-8th Place Final

Judo

Nine Chinese judoka qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
;Men
;Women

Modern pentathlon

Three Chinese athletes qualified to compete in the modern pentathlon event through the Asian Championships.

Rowing

Chinese rowers qualified the following boats:
;Men
;Women
Qualification Legend: FA=Final A ; FB=Final B ; FC=Final C ; FD=Final D ; FE=Final E ; FF=Final F ; SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; R=Repechage

Sailing

Chinese sailors have qualified one boat for each of the following events.
;Men
;Women
;Open
M = Medal race; OCS = On course side of the starting line; DSQ = Disqualified; DNF = Did not finish; DNS= Did not start; RDG = Redress given

Shooting

Twenty-six Chinese shooters qualified to compete in the following events:
;Men
;Women
* = Won in shoot-off

Softball

In the final game of the preliminary round, China was the victim of the first perfect game in Olympic softball history, losing to Japan 2-0. Their defeat two days later in the semifinal, again to Japan, eliminated China from medal contention.
;Preliminary Round
TeamWLRSRAWIN%Tiebreaker
704101.000-
612214.857-
43178.571-
341520.4291–0
34614.4290–1
25313.2861–0
25624.2860–1
16824.143-

;Quarterfinal

Swimming

Chinese swimmers earned qualifying standards in the following events :
;Men
;Women
*Competed only in heats and received medals

Synchronized swimming

Nine Chinese synchronized swimmers qualified a spot in the women's team.

Table tennis

Nine Chinese table tennis players qualified for the following events.
;Men
;Women

Taekwondo

Two Chinese taekwondo jin qualified for the following events.

Tennis

China won its first Olympic tennis medal, a gold, in the women's doubles. Following this victory, China became the only nation to claim gold medals in all three Olympic racquet sports, and more importantly, to capture the gold medal in the women's doubles for all of these events.

Triathlon

Two Chinese triathletes qualified for the following events.

Volleyball

Beach

Indoor

Women's tournament

;Roster
;Group play
;Quarterfinal
;Semifinal
;Gold Medal Final
; Won Gold Medal

Weightlifting

Ten Chinese weightlifters qualified for the following events:
;Men
;Women

Wrestling

;Men's freestyle
;Men's Greco-Roman
;Women's freestyle