China announced a strong delegation for the 2018 Asian Games on Monday, sending 845 athletes, including 19 Olympic champions, to the quadrennial multi-sport event held in Indonesia.
The Chinese delegation, which also includes 38 foreign coaches from 15 countries in 22 events, has signed up to compete in 376 disciplines of 38 sports out of the 40 on offer at the 18th Asiad, which opens on Aug 18 in Jakarta and runs through Sept 2 in the Indonesian capital.
Among all the Chinese athletes in the delegation, a majority, 631, will make their international debut in Jakarta, echoing the sports-governing body's call to embrace the continental meet as a high-exposure test for the country's young talents ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Star athletes, such as three-time Olympic champion swimmer Sun Yang, men's 100m sprint national record holder Su Bingtian and Olympic gold medalist volleyball player Zhu Ting, will lead the Chinese delegation to fight for Asian dominance in mainstream events, including swimming, track and field and collective ball games against rivals Japan, South Korea, Iran and Qatar.
The only two sports China won't compete in at the games in Jakarta are Kabaddi, a contact team sport originating from India, and weightlifting, due to a one-year suspension imposed last October by the International Weightlifting Federation for doping violations at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
