China dominated the Asian Games with 169 golds and 341 total medals. In comparison, India finished fourth with a total of 85 medals. The reasons behind this gulf between the two countries goes beyond the sporting field.
China is a sporting powerhouse, and its repeated dominance at the Asian Games has proven that. Securing 341 total medals, including 169 golds, China finished comfortably at the top of the medal standings once again, a position the country has held continuously since 1982. To put this in perspective, China’s gold count alone exceeded the combined total of the next three highest-ranked countries (Japan with 83, South Korea with 39, and India with 21). This level of success is not accidental, but the result of years of hard work and a system designed to churn out results.
For India, which finished a respectable fourth with 21 gold medals and 85 overall, understanding China’s model offers a clear roadmap for scaling up from a regional contender to a global sporting powerhouse, especially as the country prepares to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030 and potentially the Olympic Games in 2036.
What Makes China a Sporting Powerhouse?
The Juguo Tizhi Framework is at the heart of China’s athletic machine. Juguo Tizhi, or the “whole country support system” was officially defined in 2001 but started in the 1970s and 80s. This model treats elite sports as a matter of national priority. It connects local talent discovery, state-funded training centres, and top-tier scientific support into a single supply chain.
According to a report by the State Council Information Office of China (SCIO) in June 2026, China had a whopping more than five million sports areas by the end of 2025. The sports space per capita reached 3.11 square meters. With a population of 1.4 billion, the area dedicated to sports stands around 43,000 square kilometers.
China is reportedly also implementing a priority program called “15 minutes fitness circle,” making access to fitness facilities within a short distance for every citizen. Shanghai also reportedly has a plan to open 50 public fitness schools offering a variety of classes ranging from yoga, pilates, tai chi, to table tennis, hoping to push the country’s sporting ecoystem even higher.
Earlier, a Time magazine article claimed that China has 3,000 sports schools training approximately 400,000 young athletes for the Olympics.
China operates thousands of specialised sports academies nationwide. Talent identification begins extremely early, often between the ages of four and six. Children displaying natural flexibility, endurance, or coordination are placed into structured, state sponsored boarding institutions where training, schooling, and living expenses are entirely covered.
In India, the sporting focus is exceptionally high on cricket. In certain regions, wrestling, kabaddi, and football dominate, while in others, the focus is on shooting or similar sports. However, China goes beyond region specific talent hunts and development to achieve real growth. While India were able to see several new gold medallists emerge in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Games, sports like squash also saw athletes participating in both men’s and women’s singles finals; there remain several sports where there’s simply no contention for a medal.
China systematically targets a wide distribution of events. From traditional strongholds like table tennis, diving, and gymnastics to track and field, swimming, and shooting, China fields elite athletes across almost every sport on the roster.
The secret behind the country’s ability to produce top athletes in almost all sports it touches is a heavy reliance on sports science. High-performance facilities utilise real-time biomechanical feedback, algorithmic performance tracking, and tailored nutritional programmes to optimise recovery and prevent injuries long before competitions begin.
What Can India Learn From China?
The Sporting Structure
India’s sports ecosystem has made notable strides in recent years, backed by initiatives like Khelo India and the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). However, bridging the gap to top-tier international standards requires significant structural changes. These structural reforms start with early talent identification, but sustained financial support remains key to nurturing athletes into finished products.
While schemes like Khelo India discover talent at the youth level, systematic identification needs to start even earlier within primary education systems. Physical education should no longer be seen as an optional course in schools, but should be used to evaluate, discipline, and nurture children.
India’s medal tallies historically lean on specific disciplines like archery, shooting, wrestling, boxing, and team events like hockey and cricket. To increase total medal volume, there needs to be greater investment in individual sports such as swimming, athletics, and gymnastics, in which a single athlete can claim a bucketful of medals.
Access to world-class sports medicine, video analytics, and biomechanics should not be restricted to top-tier elite athletes under TOPS. Regional training hubs must also be equipped with sports science personnel so that junior athletes develop optimal techniques at the very beginning of their careers.
Dietary Changes and Financial Security
Behind China’s medal rush in events such as the Asian Games and Olympics is a centralised approach which is supported by a large budget. According to a report, China drafted the 2001-2010 Olympic Glory Program Guidelines, which came into effect after being implemented by the General Administration of Sport of China (GASC) in 2002. In 2024, the budget for GASC reached over 1 billion US dollars (INR 9600 crore). India’s spend for the Asian Games 2026, as stated by the sports ministry, was INR 700 crore.
A primary roadblock for young talent in India remains economic uncertainty. Establishing guaranteed public or private sector career pathways for national-level athletes ensures that promising competitors do not abandon sports early due to financial pressure. In comparison, China provides financial security to their athletes once the sporting pathway is established.
While India’s top elite athletes now have access to sports nutritionists under programmes like TOPS, systemic nutritional gaps remain at the grassroots level. India’s traditional diets are rich in carbohydrates. An average Indian consumes far less protein in comparison to an athlete in the West, or even in China.