Liu Xiang (below) was the biggest Chinese star to emerge from the Athens games. He is following in the footsteps of a generation of gold-medal winning pioneers, such as Xu Haifeng, Lou Yun, Deng Yaping, Wang Junxia and Wang Liping, who have entered into the pantheon of greats

Xu Haifeng enjoys China's first-ever gold, in free pistol shooting, at Los Angeles 1984.

Lou Yun is all concentration on his way to gymnastics glory at Seoul 1988.