China celebrates historic Olympic gold medal tie with US after neck and neck battle

China has achieved its best-ever performance at an overseas Olympics by securing the same number of gold medals as the United States at the Paris 2024 Games. Both countries ended with 40 gold medals, resulting in the first-ever tie for total golds at the Summer Games. However, the United States emerged as the overall winner with 126 medals compared to China’s 91. The competition between the two nations was fiercely close, reflecting their geopolitical rivalry. China considers its Olympic success as a demonstration of national strength, having previously topped the gold medal table at the Beijing Games in 2008. This year in Paris, China initially took a significant lead over Team USA, thanks to its dominance in shooting and diving. But as track and field events unfolded, the United States quickly caught up and eventually surpassed China. This marks only the third time in history that a country other than the United States or the former Soviet Union has led the gold medal count at a Summer Olympics held away from home soil. Chinese state media praised the “record-breaking” achievement in Paris, with analysts highlighting that China’s success in modernization can also benefit public health and the development of sports industries. Chinese social media celebrated the team’s performance and criticized what they perceived as unfair attempts by US officials to smear China with persistent doping allegations against its swim team. The doping controversy surrounding China’s swim team drew intense scrutiny after it emerged that almost half of Beijing’s team sent to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 had tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance. The accusations sparked outrage in China and further accusations of unfair treatment from Chinese officials towards the United States. Despite these controversies, both China and the United States are already looking ahead to the next Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles, USA.