Chinese authorities congratulate athletes on Olympic achievements

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's central authorities sent a congratulatory message to the country's Olympic delegation on Sunday for their accomplishments and sportsmanship at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

"You have won immense glory for your country and people, and we extend warm congratulations and heartfelt compliments to you," read a message jointly sent by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council, China's cabinet.

"You've overcome severe challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and fulfilled your mission wonderfully," said the message.

"Over the past 16 days, the motherland and people have kept a close eye on your wonderful performance, and felt happy and proud for every achievement that you made."

"You've displayed great prowess as well as high-spirited morale, which vividly interprets the Olympic spirit and the Chinese sportsmanship."

"You compete and communicate with athletes all over the world, promoting exchanges and enhancing friendship. Your excellent performance will further spur patriotism from all Chinese descendants around the world," added the message.

The CPC Central Committee and the State Council called on athletes to refrain from complacency and make persistent efforts to further improve the strength of Chinese sports and their abilities to win greater honors for the motherland.

They also said that they hoped the athletes would inspire more people, especially younger generations, to engage in sports to improve the nation's health, and make new contributions to build China into a leading sports nation and to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

China finished second in the overall medal table at Tokyo 2020, with 38 gold, 32 silver and 18 bronze medals.