At Beijing 2008, it won 48 gold medals and 100 overall.

On Sunday, the United States edged past China to finish on top of the Paris Olympics chart with a total medal haul of 126, including 40 golds.

The first-ever clean sweep of all eight gold medals up for grabs in the Olympic diving discipline by China's "dream team" and the world-conquering Chinese table tennis squad's complete collection of all five titles have only cemented the nation's stranglehold on these sports.

More encouraging, a series of major breakthroughs — such as China's first tennis singles Olympic gold, won by women's ace Zheng Qinwen, swimming prodigy Pan Zhanle's world record-breaking win in the men's 100m freestyle and teen cyclist Deng Yawen's trailblazing golden finish in BMX freestyle park — have all heralded China's strong foray into Western-dominated sports with much balanced athletic prowess.

Zhou Jinqiang, vice-president of the Chinese delegation, said on Sunday at a news conference in Paris that the overall performance at the Games could be summed up with one word-"breakthrough".