中国乒乓球队载誉而归

As the London Olympic draws near its end, many of the teams are returning home. The Chinese table tennis team arrived at Beijing International Airport on Friday afternoon.

Anticipation is written on everyone’s faces. But they are not here to catch a plane. They are waiting for a special group of travelers coming from London. Everyone has followed their journey closely for the past 2 weeks, and this is the homecoming welcome for them, the Chinese table tennis team.

Table tennis has always been one of the favorite sports of Chinese people, and a large crowd of fans are gathered here to welcome the heroes in their hearts.

For many supporters, the result no longer matters. Everyone bears witness to the performance of the athletes, and for the spectacular match they brought to the audience home and abroad. And they want to bring their warm welcome in return.

A table tennis fan said, “We brought 1314 flowers to show our support for the athletes, meaning "now and always" in Chinese, this is just one of the many bouquets we are holding.”

And their teammates who stayed in China are also here today with congratulatory wishes.

Athlete of China National Table Tennis Team, said, “We are all part of the same team. Their victory means a lot for every one of us, it is a great inspiration.”

When the center of everyone’s attention today finally showed up, cheers exploded from the crowd. Maybe that is the best answer to all the years of hard training and dedication.

Ding Ning, China National Table Tennis Team, said, “This is a great Olympics, I will work even harder towards the 2016 games in Brazil. It will be a tough 4 years ahead.”

Liu Guoliang, coach of China National Table Tennis Team, said, “There is still a lot of experience we can summarize and reflect on from the London Olympic. But the performance of our athletes has certainly earned the respect of their supporters.”

More and more teams will be returning home, some triumphant, some less lucky. But the most memorable is not the medals, but the precious moments they left behind. And they all deserve a warm homecoming.