Chinese delegation for Sochi announced in Beijing

The Chinese Delegation for Sochi has been announced. 139 people will travel to represent China at the Games, 66 of them, athletes who will compete in 49 events. The Chinese delegation was announced by the national sport minister Liu Peng.

Four of the 66 athletes have participated in 4 winter games before, including the pair skating silver medalists in Vancouver - Pang Qing and Tong Jian. Meanwhile, 33 athletes will make their Olympic debuts in Sochi. Since their first winter games in 1980 China has done better and better in recent years, culminating at the 2010 Games where they won five golds and eleven medals in total.

However, with their leading athlete Wang Meng ruled out of Sochi due to her ankle injury in practice 11 days ago, the team has been forced to lower their gold-medal-winning expectations this time around.