Chinese athletes ready to chase perfection in Paris 2024

Zheng Haohao, an 11-year-old skateboarder from Huizhou City in south China's Guangdong Province, is the youngest Chinese athlete to compete in the upcoming Paris Olympic Games.

Zheng secured a spot in the women's park skateboarding event during the Olympic Qualification Series held in Shanghai in May and Budapest in June.

"I feel pretty good, just to help realize my childhood dream, because when I was young, I wanted to take part in the Olympic Games," Zheng told China Media Group after sealing her place in the Budapest Olympic Qualifier Series.

After taking around four years from being a newcomer on the skateboard to making her Olympic debut in Paris, Zheng said the Olympics would be the least stressful event for her.

"At the upcoming Olympics, I want to get in the top 16," said Zheng, who will celebrate her 12th birthday on the closing day of the Paris Olympics.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will kick off on Friday. China will be represented by 405 athletes, including 42 Olympic gold medalists, in 236 events across 30 sports.

Zhou Jinqiang, deputy director of China's State General Administration of Sport, said the average age of the competitors is 25 and 223 athletes will make their Olympic debut.

Sun Yingsha, defending champion of the women's singles table tennis, told CMG "I feel both excited and proud to be in this national team jersey." Sun's teammate Fan Zhendong said: "After recent preparation, training and practice, I think I'm ready for the Olympic Games."

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng will attend the opening ceremony and other events of the 33rd Olympic Games in Paris on Friday as President Xi Jinping's Special Representative, said the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Han's presence demonstrates China's support for the development of the international Olympic movement and France's hosting of the Games, it said. China has always attached great importance to the development of sports and actively participated in the international Olympic movement, it added. 

China has hosted both the summer and winter editions of the Olympics in less than two decades and also hosted three Asian Games. As the leader of the country, President Xi has on many occasions stressed the important role of sports in promoting national health and global solidarity.

"We should promote solidarity through sports, build up positive energy across the international community, join hands to tackle global challenges such as climate change, food crisis and terrorism, and shape a better future through cooperation," Xi said last July as he welcomed guests attending the opening ceremony of the 31st summer FISU World University Games in the Chinese city of Chengdu.

In January 2022, when inspecting the preparatory work for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing, Xi said that the ultimate goal of building a sporting powerhouse and a healthy China is to enhance the public's health, fitness and happiness.