By Zhu Jingning Photo Xinhua
As the flame went out this August, the extraordinary celebration of human strength and endurance at the Paris Olympic Games concluded after two weeks of thrilling competitions, during which Team China achieved an outstanding performance highlighted by a record 40 gold medals.
The exciting moments, as well as the people from Hangzhou both front stage and behind the scenes, were enshrined in the history of the Games. A variety of “Made in Hangzhou” products were spotted in and outside the competition venues during the event.
Breathtaking breakthrough:
from freshmen to veterans
China’s Olympic delegation achieved its best overseas result at Paris 2024 since it first comprehensively participated in a Summer Olympics abroad in 1984, said Zhou Jinqiang, deputy head of the delegation, at a press conference held last Sunday. Among them, 37 athletes from Zhejiang competing in swimming, badminton, rowing, canoeing, sailing, cycling, and gymnastics clinched six gold, four silver, and four bronze medals, creating the largest number of medals won in a single Olympic session.
On Aug 2, the Chinese badminton mixed doubles pair Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong claimed their very first Olympic gold medal at Paris 2024. The ace pair, who have won three world championships and numerous other titles, finally won the medal they dreamed of, completing the last piece of the mixed doubles Grand Slam. Huang Yaqiong also became the first athlete from Hangzhou to win a gold at the Paris Olympics.
After the medal ceremony, Huang was proposed to by her teammate and men’s doubles player Liu Yuchen, who got on his knees and popped the question before another full house at La Chapelle Arena that erupted in applause at the surprise exchange on court. “I cannot describe the feeling I have because I am happy, happy, happy,” said Huang, who was in tears as she nodded yes. “Getting the gold medal is a recognition of our journey. I was surprised by the engagement ring. I’ve been focusing on training to become an Olympic champion. I never expected it.”
On Jul 31, Pan Zhanle from Zhejiang won the gold medal in the men’s 100m freestyle final, setting a new world record with a time of 46.40 seconds. Last year, Pan also topped this event and broke the Asian record at the Hangzhou Asian Games. On the final day of the swimming event, the Chinese team of Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Sun Jiajun, and Pan Zhanle won gold in the men’s 4×100m medley relay with a time of 3:27.46, ending the USA’s 40-year reign in this event.
Competing in the Olympics is a victory in itself! Ye Shiwen, aged 28, was competing in the Olympics for the first time in eight years. As the double champion of the 2012 London Olympic Games, Ye overcame injury and retirement to place sixth in the women’s 200m breaststroke this time.
Team China also claimed its first-ever Rhythmic Group title at Paris 2024. Among the five girls, Wang Lanjing from Hangzhou is the youngest member, and her gold medal was won at her Olympic debut. From the beginning of gymnastics at the age of five to the Olympic Games, Wang has gone through 14 years of training. “This is the wish of my teammates and me, to make Chinese sports amaze the world through culture and music,” Wang said after the event.
Made in Hangzhou:
from creativity to innovation
From table tennis balls and judo mats to Phryges doll mascots, silicon bracelets, LED displays, and microchip-embedded footballs, China’s contributions to the Games’ equipment were extensive. Commemorative T-shirts, badges, hats, canvas bags, and other Olympic souvenirs prominently seen outside the stadiums were partly produced by Hangzhou companies.
The “Yingyong” series of suitcases have accompanied the Chinese delegation to the French capital, as the beauty brand Maogeping also tailor-made the first personal image equipment package for athletes to better show themselves. The pear syrup lollipops, “Zero Waste” round fan, and Li Jialin’s brocade skills extending goodwill with the delegation won the hearts of visitors around the world.
At the Marne River in France, teams at the Paris Olympics used boats made in Fuyang, Hangzhou, to compete for gold at the Vaires-sur-Marne water sports stadium. These boats were redesigned and upgraded, making them lighter and more rigid, helping athletes perform better.
The 2024 Olympic Games officially concluded on August 12, drawing an estimated global audience of more than 4 billion people. As the exclusive cloud service provider of the Olympic Games, Alibaba Cloud successfully supported the largest TV and network broadcast in human history. During the Games, the OBS Cloud, co-developed by Alibaba Cloud and the Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS), served as important infrastructure to support the transmission of live signals from Paris to more than 200 countries and regions around the world, allowing billions of viewers to experience Paris 2024, making it the most widely covered Olympic Games in history.
At the opening ceremony, the Audio Vivid technology independently developed by Hangzhou Arcvideo Tech enabled China Central Television to produce the Summer Olympic Games in “4K Ultra HD + 3D sound” for the first time. The technology enhances the sound’s depth, spatiality, and immersion, allowing viewers to clearly perceive changes in the atmosphere of different scenes from their TV screens.
In addition to the innovation in sound, Arcvideo Tech also applied “AI + Ultra HD” technology integration to enhance the game-watching experience in an all-around way.
In the live broadcast of badminton events, Arcvideo Tech supports China Central Television in realizing the process of special position making and broadcasting, enabling the audience to see the ultra-high-definition picture of the badminton forward smash and other special perspectives through visual tracking, AI frame insertion, tilt adjustment, depth information extraction, and other technologies. In the live broadcast of football matches, China Mobile’s digital content subsidiary Migu is supported in achieving “AI light star”, and the audience can click on any player to view his or her information and tournament data when watching the live broadcast in real time.