BEIJING, Mar. 2 -- As the Vancouver Olympics concluded all competitions on Sunday, China is again celebrating unprecedented sporting success on the world stage. Before this year, the country had won only four gold medals in the history of the Winter Games- within a matter of weeks it has more than doubled that tally. Here are the five breakthroughs China has made at Vancouver:
Breakthrough 1: First top-eight finish at the medal tally-Chinese delegation
By taking top prizes in figure skating and short-track speed skating events, as well as six silver and bronze medals, China shared a seventh place at the medal tally with Sweden while tying its own 11-medal performance in Turin four years ago.
Breakthrough 2: Clean sweep in four women's short track speed skating events- Chinese women skaters
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China's Sun Linlin (L), Wang Meng (2nd L), Zhou Yang (front in R) and Zhang Hui celebrate after the women's 3000m relay final of short track speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, Feb. 24, 2010. China's team won the title of the event with a world-record-breaking time 4:06.610. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)
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When four Chinese skaters assumed a theatrical pose of Hollywood movie "Superman" on the top of the podium, they declared a new age has come to the short track speed skating at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.
China made a historical sweep by taking all the four gold medals on offer in the women's events, only leaving the men's reign to their Asian neighbor.
