Editor's notes:

Despite the ongoing pandemic, 2021 saw a large number of big moments in sports, including new world records for individual athletes and events in general. Even with so many fresh memories, there's more to expect in the coming year. Let's take a brief look at some of 2021's biggest sports achievements what's expected on the field in 2022.

In this file photo taken on Aug 1, 2021, China's Su Bingtian celebrates after winning in the men's 100m semi-finals during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. (JAVIER SORIANO / AFP)

I. Numbers wowing the world

At the Tokyo Olympics, China bagged 38 gold, 32 silver and 18 bronze medals, equaling its haul of golds at London 2012 for the best performance at an overseas Olympic Games. At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, the Chinese team won 96 gold, 60 silver and 51 bronze medals, topping the ranking both in gold and total medals for the fifth consecutive Paralympics. The team also set 29 new world records.

At the Tokyo Olympics, China bagged 38 gold, 32 silver and 18 bronze medals, equaling its haul of golds at London 2012 for the best performance at an overseas Olympic Games

At the Tokyo Summer Olympics, sprinter Su Bingtian set a new Asian record when he clocked 9.83 seconds in the men's 100-meter sprint semifinal. Swimmer Zhang Yufei broke the Olympic record in the women's 200m butterfly and won her first Olympic gold at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. China also won its first gold in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay with a new world and Olympic record time of 7:40.33.

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At the 14th National Games in Xi'an, 13 world records were broken in shooting, weightlifting and rock climbing.

Freestyle skier Gu Ailing became the first woman to ever land a right double cork 1440 in any freeski competition to claim her first Big Air World Cup title at Steamboat Resort in Colorado on Dec 4.

In this file photo taken on Aug 5, 2021, Gold medallist China's Quan Hongchan poses with their medal during the medal presentation ceremony after the women's 10m platform diving final event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo. (ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP)

II. Figures in spotlight

Teenage diver Quan Hongchan scored perfect 10s in three of her five dives to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics on Aug 5. The baby-faced Quan barely made a ripple in the water during her finals performance and tallied 466.2 points to dominate the field. Quan's three flawless dives went viral both at home and abroad.

Table tennis player Ma Long became the first player to claim back-to-back Olympic men's singles titles, as well as the first man to complete two Grand Slams - the treble of Olympic, world championship and World Cup titles in one year.

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Veteran weightlifter Lyu Xiaojun made history by winning a gold medal in the men's 81kg category along with three new Olympic records at the Tokyo Olympic Games on July 31. This is Lyu's third Olympic medal after gold (2012) and silver (2016) in the 77kg category, making the 37-year-old Lyu the first Chinese weightlifter to rack up more than two Olympic medals. Lyu broke the record for the oldest Olympic Games champion in the sport set by Rudolf Plukfelder of the Soviet Union, who was 36 years old when he won gold at Tokyo 1964.

Shot putter Gong Lijiao won her first Olympic gold medal on Aug 1, and the victory marked China's first Olympic gold in field events. The four-time Olympian set her personal best twice in the final, throwing 20.53 meters in the fifth round and 20.58m in her sixth attempt.

This photo taken on Nov 30, 2019 shows Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu reacting after taking third place at a feature race during the twelfth and final round of the 2019 FIA Formula 2 championship at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (STR / AFP)

III. Breakthroughs

Over the past year, breakthroughs have been made in many games related to the Olympics. Fan Duoyao became China's first sled athlete to qualify for the IBSF World Cup, and finished the qualifier in 59.535s on Nov 19. Hong Kong won its first Olympic gold after returning to China at the Tokyo Olympics on July 26 when fencing athlete Cheung Ka-long, 1.93 meters tall, defeated the 1.78-meter Italian Daniele Garozzo 15:11 to win the gold medal in the men's individual foil competition. This is the fourth Olympic medal in Hong Kong's history.

Moreover, other sports including snooker and auto racing have also saw many achievements. This year, two Chinese snooker players won two of snooker's Triple Crown events. Yan Bingtao defeated veteran John Higgins to clinch the Snooker Masters title on Jan 17, becoming the youngest Masters champion since Ronnie O'Sullivan won the event in 1995 at the age of 19. Zhao Xintong defeated Luca Brecel 10-5 to win the 2021 UK Championship in York on Dec 5.

Racing talent Zhou Guanyu has dashed into racing history as he became China's first-ever Formula 1 driver. The 22-year-old joined Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen as race driver for the 2022 season, and the Chinese talent will make his F1 debut as he lines up on the grid for next season's opener in Bahrain.

Security guards walk at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games village in Beijing on Dec 24, 2021. (JADE GAO / AFP)

IV. China sports in 2022

As the first city in the world to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics from Feb 4 to 20, with the Winter Paralympics following between March 4 and 13. China aims to get 300 million people involved in winter sports and build more than 500 ice skating rinks as well as 240 ski slopes by the start of the Games. The Beijing Olympics will feature 109 events across 15 disciplines in seven winter sports, and China has qualified to compete in 91 events as of Dec 15. By committing to the mission of hosting a "green, shared, open and clean" Winter Olympics, Beijing 2022 will be the greenest and cleanest Olympic Games ever. It is the first time in the history of the Olympics all venues are 100 percent powered by green energy, with the ice-making technology adopted producing zero emissions.

In the coming year, another two major sporting events that will be held in China are the Chengdu 2021 FISU World University Games and the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022, along with many other events throughout the country.

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The Chengdu 2021 FISU World University Games, which is the world's largest international multisport event for student-athletes, were originally scheduled to run in 2021 from Aug 16 to 27. However, due to the global COVID-19 situation and international travel restrictions, it was postponed by one year and is scheduled to take place from June 26 to July 7.

The 2022 Asian Games will be a multi-sport event held in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, from Sept 10 to 25. The Games will also include athletes from Oceania for the first time after the approval from Olympic Council of Asia to compete in sports which qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics through Asia, including volleyball, beach volleyball, basketball, football and fencing.