China's Sun Yang was a controversial figure at the Games. Photo / AP
As a number of countries bemoan the lack of medals at the recently completed Rio Olympics, spare a thought for the Chinese athletes who were ridiculed by state media as the "worst Olympic flop".
"You kidding me? The country which has never finished above China is about to," the official
Xinhua news agency said alongside a picture of China third on the medal table behind the United States and Great Britain. The tweet was later removed.
China sent a team of 410 athletes and finished with 26 golds compared to Great Britain's 27, their lowest gold medals tally since Atlanta in 1996, where they finished with just 16.
The continued to dominate in table tennis (seven golds) but won only one swimming gold (five in 2012) and none in gymnastics, a sport they are traditionally strong in (four golds in London in 2012).
State media labelled the Games as China's "worst Olympic flop" and cited Britain's spending as the reason Team GB toppled them on the medal tally. Others said sport's bosses needed to move with the times.
