Hainan provides excellent training bases for Team China

Leaving the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with 38 gold, 32 silver and 18 bronze medals, Team China took second place in the overall medal totals, just one gold behind the United States, which captured 39 golds. Hainan contributed significantly to Team China's accomplishments.

Hainan's Wuzhishan has become a top winter training destination for the Chinese weightlifting team since they started training there for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Tang Xuelin, an official from the Wuzhishan Training Base, said that their choice is mainly due to the excellent climate of the city and the continuous upgrading of facilities at the base in recent years.

Wuzhishan has a suitable temperature and the air is abundant with negative oxygen ions, which are conducive to athletes' physical recovery, Tang added.

The national water sports team also favors the natural environment in Wuzhishan. During their training for the Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese sailing team visited Wuzhishan for adjustment training after completing other forms of training in Haikou.

The Baisha Comprehensive Base of National Sports Training Southern Base is also favored as a designated training ground for Chinese athletes.

"The temperature in Baisha is very suitable for our daily training, and the local supplies and services are also excellent, which contributed to our performance at the Tokyo Olympics," said Li Qian, who competed in the women's 75 kg boxing finals at the Tokyo Olympics and pocketed a silver medal.

Zhang Chuanliang, head coach of the Chinese boxing team added that the national boxing team has been training at the Baisha base for three consecutive years.

In addition, Lingshui Li autonomous county in Hainan was the selected training spot for the Chinese national badminton teams.

Zhang Jun, chairman of the Chinese Badminton Association, said that the national teams have been training in Lingshui for eight consecutive years since the first winter training camp for the Chinese badminton youth team at the Lingshui National Badminton Training Base in 2013.

Lingshui has become a second home for the Chinese national badminton team, Zhang added.

In the future, sports training will have even greater development in Hainan, with the National Sports Training Southern Base to be completed in Jiangdong New District, Haikou. After the project is finished, it will meet the needs of 1,500 athletes and coaches competing in 16 sports events such as weightlifting, boxing, taekwondo, track and field, and table tennis.

The athlete village at Baisha base will soon be finished, and is capable of hosting 700 athletes. In addition, sports centers in Sanya, Danzhou, Wanning and other cities in Hainan are also under construction.

With the completion and improvement of large stadiums and winter training bases in the next few years, Hainan will usher in more large-scale sports events and continue to serve the national and provincial teams as training bases, according to officials from Hainan's sports department.