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The country will send 256 women and 160 men to compete in 26
sports, the government said during a ceremony unveiling the team
in Beijing on Monday, state news agency Xinhua reported. It
fielded 396 athletes in the London 2012 games.
"This is the largest ever Olympic delegation China has sent
overseas," Cai Zhenhua, deputy director of China's General
Administration of Sport, was reported by Xinhua as saying. He
added that the delegation has 711 members including 29 foreign
coaches.
Local fans were assured by the inclusion of popular Chinese
swimmer Ning Zetao, the recent subject of rumors that he had
been cut from the squad for taking on too many commercial
engagements. He is first Asian swimmer to win the 100 meters
freestyle at the world championships.
The youngest member of the delegation is 14-year-old Ai Yanhan,
who will compete in the women's 200m freestyle and 4x200m
freestyle relay, while the oldest is 39-year-old Beijing
Olympics shooting champion Chen Ying.
Notable omissions include five-time Olympic gold medallist and
gymnast Zou Kai and teenage gymnast Liu Tingting, who was due to
compete in her first international competition but pulled out
due to an injury suffered during training last week.
Weightlifting Olympic champion Liao Hui, who missed the 2012
Olympics after failing a drugs test, also announced his
retirement on the Twitter-like Weibo platform on Monday.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
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