Editor's note: The most moving moments of Tokyo 2020 involve more than just winning gold medals. When athletes struggle, make breakthroughs, and challenge and transcend themselves, they create history and also highlight the significance of the Olympic Games by bravely competing. We are proud of them even when they don't bring home the gold.

Sprinter Su Bingtian ran into the record books at the Tokyo 2020 Games on Sunday when he became the first Chinese athlete to qualify for the men's 100-meter sprint final at an Olympics, setting a new Asian record on the way.

Although Su finished sixth, he recorded a respectable time of 9.98 seconds, 0.18 seconds behind surprise winner Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy, who clocked in at 9.80 seconds.

Su was ultimately let down by a slow start out of the blocks in the final to finish sixth in 9.98. However, his stunning semifinal victory to qualify with the fastest time was already inspiration enough for young sprinters across Asia to follow in his lightning-fast steps.

"I hope my performance today can inspire younger athletes to keep pushing forward with their sporting careers," a proud Su said after Sunday's final at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.

Wang Chunyu set her personal best with 1 minute 57 seconds, finishing fifth in the women's 800m final at Tokyo Olympics. She is the first Chinese to qualify for the Olympic women's 800m final.

American runner Athing Mu won gold with a time of 1:55.21.

Wang completed the semifinals with a personal best of 1:59.14, ranking second in her semifinal group to secure a place in the final.

"I want to try for an even better ranking in the final," said Wang. "I have proved that Asians and Chinese can make it to the final (of the women's 800m)."

Chinese sprinter Xie Zhenye ran into the men's 200m semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics to make history for the country in this event on Tuesday.

Xie, the holder of the Asian record, clocked in at 20.34 seconds in the group stage to mark his seasonal best.

"I spent too much strength in the first half of the face and my performance was affected by running in the inner track," he said after the semifinals.

After years of waiting for a team sports medal in Olympic basketball, the Chinese Women's 3x3 Basketball Team delivered a bronze medal to those dreamers on July 28, defeating France 16-14 at Japan's Aomi Urban Sports Park.

Winning a medal at the Olympic debut of basketball's half-court version at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Wang Lili of Team China couldn't hide her excitement at being able to hold off France's last-second attempt to tie the game.

"The game was very tough. It was up and down the whole game, but we managed to be on top in the end," Wang said. "We're very excited, because we've won the bronze medal the first time that 3x3 basketball has been in the Olympics. It's more than we expected."

The event is the first new one in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

China beat Japan 29:0 in the seven-person football match at Tokyo 2020, entering the top eight. This also was the best result of the Chinese team in the event.

China's 16-year-old Zeng Wenhui finished sixth with 9.66 points. She successfully repeated her kickflip 50-50, which contributed to her qualification, earning a game best of 4.93 points, but that was the only trick she made in the final.

Zeng told reporters that she had shown her potential, but it was a pity she failed to complete her kickflip 50-50 in the last attempt.

"It was a backup plan actually, but I decided I would do it to strike for a podium finish. It was the last chance and a simple trick wouldn't work," she said.

After skateboarding was confirmed as an official Olympic event in 2016, China started to form teams to participate in all kinds of international competitions at all levels.

China's Liu Zhiyu and Zhang Liang finished their race in 6 minutes 3.63 seconds for a bronze, a historic first Olympic medal not only for the Chinese men's rowing team but also for Asia.

France edged the Netherlands by 0.2 seconds to win the men's double sculls gold in an Olympic best time of 6 minutes and 0.33 seconds here on Wednesday.

Chinese sailor Bi Kun won the men's windsurfer RS:X bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.

This marked the best result for the Chinese team in the Olympic Games, and also a breakthrough after zero Olympic medals in the Chinese men's windsurfing event.

The Chinese team of Wang Zifeng, Wang Yuwei, Xu Fei, Miao Tian, Zhang Min, Ju Rui, Li Jingjing, Guo Linlin and coxswain Zhang Dechang finished in 6 minutes 1.21 seconds to win a bronze medal -- the eighth rowing medal won by China after 33 years and also the nation's first Olympic medal in this event.

The Chinese team ranked fifth after the 50-meter race and still remained in that position after the first 1000-meter race. In the second half, they began to make efforts and rushed to the third position at 1500 meters.

The Chinese women firmly grasped the first group and maintained the third position to the end, with a final score of 6:01.21. Canada claimed goal and New Zealand the silver.

Li Bingjie bagged the bronze medal in the women's 400m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympic Games on July 26.

Besides pocketing China's first Olympic medal in this event, Li also set a new Asian record at 4:01.08, smashing it for the second time after her record-breaking performance in the freestyle preliminaries.