As I worked as a sports journalist for my first 10 years with China Daily, I have (close) followed how China has grown from a minor player in the international sports arena into a global sports power.
it had a huge population, China was not much of a global force in sports until the1980s. However, it was very good at table tennis at that time. The first major international breakthrough for China came in 1981 its women's volleyball team won the Women's Volleyball World Cup. Understandably, sports fans went crazy. Parades celebrating the victory (hold) on many university campuses some students shouting slogans such as "revitalizing（振兴） China"， which has since become the goal of the nation.
(motivate) by the victory, China invested more of the limited resources in training athletes. The investment paid off, as China got (it) first Olympic gold medal in shooting in
1984. In all, Chinese athletes won 15 gold medals in the Los Angeles Olympics, (set) the course to becoming a global sports power. In past decade, Chinese athletes have been winning about 120 gold medals in international sports games every year.
As China invests more resources in the sports sector thanks to the fast-paced economic development and winning world titles becoming normal for Chinese athletes, the government started encouraging ordinary (citizen) to play sports.
