Did you know: Fun facts about China and the Olympics

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Around the world, June 23 marks Olympic Day, as a way to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games.

On the day, national Olympic committees in various countries organize activities – for example, the Olympic Day Run encourages people to get active, learn about Olympics' values and discover new sports.

China has been celebrating Olympic Day since 1987, below are some facts about China's involvement with the Olympics.

China's first IOC member

Wang Zhengting (center) walks to participate in the IOC meeting prior to the 11th Summer Olympics in Berlin in 1936. /VCG Photo

Wang Zhengting (1882 – 1961), a native of Fenghua in east China's Zhejiang Province, was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1922.

China's first Olympian

Liu Changchun (center) poses prior to the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. /VCG Photo

Sprinter Liu Changchun (1909-1983) was the first athlete to represent China in competition at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. On July 31, 1932, Liu competed in the 100m preliminaries, where he was assigned to group 2 which had six athletes. He then registered for the men's 100m, 200m, and 400m. He failed to qualify for the finals of the men's 100m and 200m, and he did not compete in the men's 400m due to exhaustion.

China's first Olympic medal

Xu Haifeng poses with his gold medal after winning the men's pistol event final, on July 29, 1984 during the Olympic Games, in Los Angeles. /VCG Photo

Xu Haifeng, as a 27-year-old pistol shooter, won China's first Olympic gold medal in 1984. He achieved a breakthrough score in the men's 50-meter pistol shooting event during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

China's athlete who's been to the most Olympics

China's Wang Yifu (center) poses with his gold medal, along with other two prize winners, on the podium after winning the men's 10-meter air pistol competition on August 14, 2004, in Athens. /VCG Photo

Wang Yifu, born in 1960, is male pistol shooter and the only Chinese athlete who has participated in six Olympics. He has two gold medals, three silver medals, and one bronze medal from events between from 1984 to 2004.

Unique Chinese female athlete ever defeated a male player

China's Zhang Shan competes in the skeet shooting event during the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. /VCG Photo

In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, female Chinese athlete Zhang Shan defeated many male players to win the men's and women's mixed skeet event. This event is no longer a part of the games, but Zhang is unique for coming out on top in an event that saw both male and female competing against each other.

Beijing's five mascots in 2008

Five mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. /VCG Photo

The 2008 Beijing Olympics has the largest number of mascots with five figurative personified "Fuwa", which translates as "good-luck dolls", with each name forming the sentence "Welcome to Beijing" (Bei Jing Huan Ying Nin).

Beijing: the only city to hold both Summer and Winter Olympics

The Beijing Olympic Tower will permanently show the Olympic symbol of five rings, since the tower was officially launched on June 12, 2016. /VCG Photo

Beijing will be the only city in the world to ever organize both a summer and winter Olympics, as it held the 29th Summer Olympics in 2008 and will hold the 24th Winter Olympics together with the neighboring city of Zhangjiakou in 2022.