China to send largest-ever sports delegation to Vancouver

China will send the largest-ever sports delegation made up of 182 members, including 91 athletes, 30 men and 61 women, to the Winter Olympics to be held in Vancouver, Canada, from February 12 - 28, 2010.

According to a report on the official website of the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC), the average age of the Chinese athletes is 24.4. The oldest among them is figure skater Zhao Hongbo, 37, and the youngest is ice hockey player Zhang Mengying, aged 16.

For veteran figure skating pair Shen Xue/Zhao Hongbo and female biathlete Liu Xianying, this will be the fourth time participating in Winter Olympics. However, over half of the athletes will make their Olympic debuts in Vancouver.

Chinese athletes will compete in five sports (skating, skiing, ice hockey, curling and biathlon), 10 disciplines (short-track speed skating, figure skating, speed skating, freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, snowboard, women's ice hockey, men's and women's curling, and biathlon) and 49 events, according to the report. This will be the first time that China will have its own curling team at the Olympics. The Chinese women's hockey team will also hit Olympic ice for the first time in eight years.

Zhao Yinggang, Secretary-General of the Chinese Sports Delegation to Vancouver 2010, says that the goal of the team is to outshine the results achieved in Turin four years ago, when China claimed two golds, four silvers and five bronzes.

The majority of the delegation will check in at the Olympic Village after its opening on February 4, the COC report says.