China may have had a rough showing at this year's Olympics, but a bright moment came this weekend when the women's volleyball team captured the gold medal.
Team China defeated Serbia on Saturday in four sets (19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23), following an upset of Brazil in the quarterfinals. Lang Ting made history, becoming the first woman to coach a gold medal game, as well as the first person in history to win the gold as both a player and a coach. Lang was part of the historic team that won the gold at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Zhu Ting absolutely dominated the game, earning 25 points for Team China.
The victory came as somewhat of a surprise for China, who entered the Rio Games ranked third worldwide. A sluggish start to the Games saw the team with a 2-3 preliminary round record as well as a loss to the Netherlands. However, things began to turn around after the surprise victory over Brazil.
Back home, China erupted in joy, with the victory becoming one of the most talked about news items on Weibo. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Tower was lit up with a message in support of the team that read "The Spirit of the Chinese Women's Volleyball Team is Eternal" ("中国女排精神永恒").
This is the third gold medal for the team, who also won it all in 2004 and 1984. The team also picked up a silver medal in 1996 and a bronze in 2008 and 1988.
[Images via Reuters, Rio 2016]
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