With 42 Olympic champions leading its delegation, China is set to embark on its most ambitious Olympic outing abroad at the upcoming Paris Games.

Among the 236 disciplines in which it will compete, Chinese athletes are expected to win multiple golds in traditional sports, particularly athletics, swimming, gymnastics, diving, shooting, boxing, and weightlifting.

Yet this year, the game is changing. With the recent introduction of skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing in the last Olympics, and now breakdancing — sports scarcely older in China than the country’s Olympians who will be competing in them in Paris — new disciplines are set to test the boundaries of tradition and talent.

With limited experience in these sports, how has China adapted to prepare these young athletes for the biggest sporting stage of all?

Peak performance

Debuting at the 2018 Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games, sport climbing officially joined the Olympic program at the Tokyo 2020 Games. China has qualified seven climbers out of a maximum of eight possible spots. Only the USA qualified all eight, and just two countries — China and France — qualified seven.

“There are several reasons why climbing is developing so fast in China,” says Tan Xiaofei, a professional climbing coach who previously coached the Chinese national team. “First, it has a special beauty and a close connection with nature,”  explains Tan, referring to the recent surge in outdoor activities among urban residents in China.

“Climbing also received a lot of government support. Then, when it became an Olympic event, even more importance was attached to it, on both provincial and national levels.”

While its popularity surged about 15 years ago, climbing in China may now boast around half a million participants, says Tan, adding that there are more than 100 climbing gyms in Shanghai and about 80 in Beijing. Top climbers can turn professional and represent their cities and provinces.

And in an indication of its growing appeal and potential for the future, climbing has become extremely popular among children.

“Parents want their kids to learn how to be brave,” says Tan, adding that climbing is also an excellent sport for achieving good results in competitions that contribute to exam scores.

“If a kid does swimming, table tennis, or badminton, getting into the top 10 in a city competition is really difficult because there are thousands of kids competing. But currently, in climbing, the competition is a lot less intense compared to these established sports.”

Competition climbing features two disciplines: speed climbing, where athletes race to climb the same route faster, and a combined discipline of bouldering and lead, involving both long, roped climbs and shorter, ropeless climbs. The combined discipline is the most coveted and competitive.

In Paris, 20 men and women will compete in each discipline, with each country allowed a maximum of two competitors per gender in each. Climbers must qualify for the Olympics through their performances in world or continental championships or special Olympic qualifying events.

One of China’s climbing stars, 21-year-old Zhang Yuetong, secured her spot in Paris by winning the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament in Jakarta last year in bouldering and lead.

A climbing prodigy from the southern Guangdong province, Zhang’s parents encouraged her to try various extracurricular activities, from archery to horse riding, but climbing was her favorite.

In one interview with domestic media, her father said: “She has a bit of talent.” But her early success in children’s divisions and victories over adults while still in her very early teens suggest otherwise.

As a child, Zhang devoted all her time to climbing and training, often falling asleep with her face buried in homework. In one interview, an 11-year-old Zhang lamented that she had never been to a birthday party.

Zhang’s teammate in Paris is 19-year-old Luo Zhilu from Beijing. In 2022, at the age of 16, Luo became the first Chinese climber to medal in an IFSC bouldering World Cup. On her way to that historic bronze, Luo defeated an Olympic silver medalist and a world championships silver medalist.

In 2024, Luo went one better, securing second place in the IFSC World Cup in the bouldering and lead combined discipline. She earned her ticket to Paris through the Olympic qualifier series, where she finished third.

Coach Tan believes there is a good chance of medals in speed climbing, where China has traditionally been strong. Long Jinbao, who won silver at the 2023 World Championships, is among the athletes to watch.

But the blue-ribbon combined discipline is more competitive, says Tan. “We hope our athletes get good results, but competition is really intense. Also, the unpredictability factor in climbing is very high,”

Tan adds that Chinese climbers are catching up with the world’s elite. “In China, this sport started very recently, so in terms of training conditions, technique, and coaching, there is still a gap between us and the leading countries. But we are working hard on closing it, and our progress is very quick.”

The surfer from Sichuan

In just six years since the Chinese national surfing team was established in 2018, 15-year-old Yang Siqi has become the first Chinese surfer to qualify for the Olympic Games — a remarkable feat for someone from the landlocked, southwestern Sichuan province.

First, Yang had to relocate to Hainan, the southern island province now hailed as China’s surfing capital. A powerfully built, broad-shouldered teenager with blond streaks in her short cropped hair, Yang moved to Hainan when she was 9 to join a sports school.

In an interview with domestic media, Yang admitted that when she first arrived, she missed home so much that she “cried every day.”

But she stuck it out, and the perseverance paid off.

In March 2024, at the ISA World Surfing Games in Puerto Rico, she made history by winning an Olympic slot after finishing first in the repechage group, where lower-ranking finishers battled for Olympic places. Recalling that day, Yang was quoted as saying, “My whole body was shaking, my arms were shaking.”

This year, 48 women will compete for medals at the legendary — and dangerous — Teahupo’o break in Tahiti, French Polynesia, where the Olympic surfing events will be held.

Yang was fifth at last year’s Asia Surfing Championships, but in Tahiti, competition will be far tougher. The medals are expected to go to surfers from the world’s surfing powerhouses — Australia, Brazil, and the USA.

Yang said in an interview that she is not thinking about Olympic medals yet. Her aim is to successfully ride a big pipe wave, which the Teahupo’o break is known for, and something she’s never done before.

Only 14 when she qualified for her first Olympic Games, Yang still has decades of competitive surfing ahead of her. On her surfboard, she painted in large, wobbly English letters: “Be the person you want to be, because you only have one life to do the things you want to do.”

Breaking good

At just 17, Liu Qingyi, better known as B-Girl 671, is among China’s brightest hopes in the world of breakdancing. With a powerful and aggressive style infused with moves from wushu, the traditional Chinese martial art, Liu has quickly risen to prominence, setting multiple firsts for Chinese breakdancing.

From Huixian City in the central Henan province, Liu made headlines in 2022, winning Outbreak Europe in Slovakia and PortoBattle in Portugal, both prestigious international breakdancing competitions.

That year, Liu also earned a silver medal at the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) World Breaking Championships, becoming the first Chinese to win a medal at the event.

In 2023, she continued her success with another world silver and a triumph at the WDSF Breaking for Gold World Series in Montpellier, France, defeating both the reigning European champion and the world number one. Her victory at the Asian Games in Hangzhou later that year secured her spot at the Olympics.

“The improvement of young Chinese breakdancers has been scary,” laughs Xia Yongxiang, also known as AD-Roll. Xia, 31, has been breakdancing since he was 13 and co-founded The Golden Monkey, one of China’s most successful breaking groups, based in Kunming, capital of southwestern Yunnan province.

“Moves considered elite for breakers a decade ago are now basic for 7-year-olds,” asserts Xia.

“I am about the second or third generation of Chinese breakers. I started on the streets. My family did not approve — what is this stuff? What are you doing? But now the family is, of course, supportive,” he grins.

China’s breaking boom started about five years ago, according to Xia. After recognition from Chinese sport authorities, competitions moved from street corners to official venues, with sponsorships from brands like Nike and Adidas. Top athletes from around the world were invited to participate.

“Before, you could not make a living breakdancing, and many people gave up,” Xia recalls. “Now there are channels to earn money. In big competitions, you can win 100,000 or 150,000 yuan ($14,000-$20,000). In smaller ones, about 30,000. In one-on-one battles, up to about 8,000.”

Another route is coaching children. The demand is growing, says Xia, estimating that over 100,000 kids in China practice breakdancing seriously. He teaches more than 300 children at two studios in Kunming and also gives classes in middle and high schools.

Xia says that in Paris, the Chinese team, coached by French breaking legend and multiple world champion Mounir Biba, has medal chances. Each country can field a maximum of two men and two women, and three Chinese breakers have qualified for the Paris Games.

The top Chinese b-boy, Qi “Lithe-ing” Xiangyu, won bronze at the Asian Games in Hangzhou and qualified for the Paris Olympics by reaching the semi-finals of the 2023 WDSF championship. Not only did Qi become the first Chinese male to reach the worlds’ semis, but he also beat the reigning world champion on the way.

While Xia admits it will be difficult for Chinese athletes to make the podium in Paris among the world’s best, he is proud of China’s progress. “I have been breaking for 18 years. There used to be no Chinese at all in big competitions. It is a great feeling to see Chinese breakdancers go from street corners to the Olympics.”

Rolling with it

All women. The oldest is 19. And a 12-year-old will become China’s youngest Olympian. Meet China’s Olympic skateboarders, led by 14-year-old Cui Chenxi, who last year became the youngest Asian Games champion in history.

From what was once a little-understood, niche passtime practiced by rebellious teenagers, skateboarding in China has come a long way — driven by a significant mindset shift among parents and children.

“Now in China many children cannot cope with the feeling of not being first. They are really afraid of failure. Skateboarding culture encourages facing up to failure — you have to fail many times to learn every trick,” explains Yang Liuqing, one of China’s pioneers in competitive skateboarding. “This is a big help for parents.”

Yang, 34, recalls learning to skate on the streets of the northwestern city of Xi’an, often chased by security guards. “I discovered skateboarding when I was 16,” Yang tells Sixth Tone. “At that time, about 2008, it was not popular in China, people thought it was something that kids did for fun.”

“We had no idea about competitions, just tried to skate the fastest from A to B. Then we started to learn jumps, different tricks. We watched videos of foreign skaters, although at that time there were not really any videos available online. It took about 10 years for competitions, sponsored by brands, to appear.”

In 2017, Yang became the Chinese national champion and won a silver medal at the National Games. She then took a break from competitions. When she tried to rejoin the national team four years later, she finished outside the top 20 in the national championships, showing just how much the sport had advanced.

Now, she explains, there are “plenty of competitions” — shangye bisai, or commercial competitions organized by brands, and guanfang bisai, organized by sport authorities.

In her skateboarding studio called Mirroir, located in the basement of a shopping mall in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen, Yang and her team of coaches have trained over 1,000 children. Currently, 20 of them are focused on competitions.

According to Yang, there are at least eight other such skating studios in Shenzhen alone. She also estimates that by now, hundreds of thousands of children across the country will have tried skateboarding.

Olympic skateboarding consists of two disciplines — park and street — and 20 skaters of each gender will take part in each discipline in Paris. Street mimics skating in the urban environment, with courses filled with stairs, railings, and curbs. Park courses are concrete bowls with ramps and bumps.

Nineteen-year-old Zeng Wenhui, who came sixth in the street event at the Tokyo Olympics, is another contender in Paris. She won silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games, behind her compatriot Cui.

Yang admits that Olympic medals are unlikely for the Chinese skaters this year. The veteran believes that the best Cui can realistically hope for is making the final — the top eight.

Though some Chinese skateboarders are now world-class, Yang believes it will take about three or four more years to catch up with the world’s very best. That suits Cui just fine. By the time the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles roll around, she’ll be 18.

Editor: Apurva.

(Icons: From the website of Olympic Games Paris 2024)

(Header image: Visuals from IC, VCG, and interviewees, reedited by Ding Yining/Sixth Tone)