Why is China’s gold medal count at the Rio Olympics so low?

CHINA

When China sent 710 athletes, coaches and officials to the Rio Games – its largest ever delegation to an away Olympics – it expected a comfortable second place in the table of gold medals, as it achieved in London four years ago.

After all, the delegation included 35 Olympic gold medallists – 27 from the London Games – and one of China’s biggest competitors, Russia, had seen its medal hopes seriously hit by the International Olympic Committee’s decision to ban many of its athletes on suspicion of doping.

But ominous signs emerged on the very first day in Rio that things would not turn out as expected and might even go much worse.

69 to 2: What the Rio Olympics medal tally says about China-India comparisons

At past Games, China has often won its first golds in the women’s and men’s 10 metre air rifle, and in Rio its team boasted former and reigning champions.