26 Chinese female athletes receive top honor for winning gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games

The Chinese government awarded 26 female athletes the National March 8th Red-Banner Holders for their 2020 Tokyo Games performance.

Outstanding athletes: The 26 gold medalists announced by the All-China National Women’s Federation on Wednesday include shooter Yang Qian, weightlifter Hou Zhihui, fencer Sun Yiwen, swimmer Zhang Yufei and shot putter Gong Lijiao, according to Global Times.

Meanwhile, China’s women’s table tennis Dream Team received the National March 8th Red-Banner Collective title.
China sent 431 athletes to the 2020 Tokyo Games as part of its national team, and 298 were women. Female athletes took home 25 gold medals out of the 38 total won by China.
The award was given to first-time gold medalists and those who are 18 or older. Those under 18 will receive the China Youth May 4th Medal Collective. A total of 39 young athletes received the award.

About the award: Organized by the All-China Women’s Federation in the 1960s, the Award for the March 8th Red-Banner Holders, Pacesetters and Collectives is one of China’s top honors awarded to outstanding women.

“The Women’s Federation’s award to female Olympic champions is not only an inspiration and affirmation to these athletes, but also a highlight and affirmation of the characteristics the female athletes showed — powerful, confident, positive and healthy,” said Ren Hai, a professor at the Olympic Research Center of Beijing Sports University.
The aim of the award is to help motivate women to “actively participate in social and economic development,” the Global Times report said.

Featured Image via Getty (left) and beIN SPORTS Asia (right)

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