As we bid farewell to remarkable year of action-packed thrills, China Daily looks back at the nation's biggest sports achievements in 2022.

The Olympic rings are seen during the celebratory, snowflake-themed closing ceremony of the Winter Games at the National Stadium in Beijing. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

1. Exceptional Beijing 2022

A defining moment of the year, the 2022 Winter Olympics closed on Feb 20 in Beijing to international acclaim for the stunning action, safe and smooth organization amid the pandemic and the Games' rich legacy for the host areas. Beijing went down in history as the world's first city to host both the summer and winter editions of the Games while China is expected to benefit from the facility upgrades and an increasing number of over 346 million winter sports fans to build itself into a world power on ice and snow.

Gu Ailing of China poses during the awarding ceremony after winning the women's freeski halfpipe at Zhangjiakou Medals Plaza of the Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei province, Feb 18, 2022. (XUE YUBIN / XINHUA)

2. Sensational Gu

As a face of Beijing 2022, women's freestyle skier Gu Ailing shot to international stardom in Beijing after winning two gold medals (half-pipe, big air) and a silver (slopestyle) at her Olympic debut representing China, her mother's home country. The California-born prodigy has drawn massive interest from across the sports and fashion worlds for her inspiring feats and bi-cultural background.

Su Yiming of China celebates after men's snowboard big air final of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at Big Air Shougang in Beijing, capital of China, Feb 15, 2022. (XUE YUGE / XINHUA)

3. Rise of Su-per star

A fine product of China's own winter sports program, young snowboarder Su Yiming etched himself into history at Beijing 2022 after claiming the host's first ever Olympic gold in the sport in men's big air at the age of 17, building on a silver from slopestyle to make him one of the brightest stars on a Chinese delegation that won a record nine gold medals to finish at its highest ever position at third on the Winter Games' medal table.

Team China members pose for photos after the 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup final against the United States in Sydney, Australia, Oct 1, 2022. (PHOTO BY HU JINGCHEN / XINHUA)

4. Hoops heroics

Counting on its resilient and tenacious team play, the Chinese squad battled past Olympic bronze medalist France and host Australia to return to the final of the FIBA Women's World Cup on Oct 1 after its last appearance in 1994. Despite an 83-61 final loss to 11-time winner United States, a silver medal had tied the best outcome of China's women's program at the showpiece tournament while delivering a huge inspiration on the National Day holiday.

Members of China celebrate during the awarding ceremony after winning the final football match between China and South Korea at the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup in Mumbai, India, Feb 6, 2022. (JAVED DAR / XINHUA)

5. Re-blooming Steel Roses

Unexpected yet urgently needed, Team China beat South Korea, 3-2. They recovered from two goals down in the final of the AFC Women's Asian Cup on Feb 6 to bring home its ninth crown from the continental tournament after a 16-year title drought. The resurgence of the female squad, known as the "Steel Roses", on the world stage had resulted in several key players landing contracts to ply their trade in overseas leagues, raising hopes for a strong campaign at the 2023 World Cup.

China's Zheng Qinwen returns the ball to France's Alize Cornet during their women's singles match on day seven of the Roland-Garros Open tennis tournament at the Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris on May 28, 2022. (JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

6. Courting breakthroughs

2022 marked a progressive year of Chinese tennis on both the men's and women's professional circuits. Teen star Zheng Qinwen made international headlines after reaching the fourth round at the French Open in May, joined by youngster Wang Xiyu and veteran Zhang Shuai to bolster the revival of the female contingent. Men's top ace Zhang Zhizhen became the first Chinese mainland player to crack the world's top-100 ranking in October while former US Open junior winner Wu Yibing finally proved his potential by advancing into the third round of the US Open main draw to become the first Chinese mainlander to do so in the Open era.

China's Wang Jianan competes in the men's long jump final during the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on July 16, 2022. (ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP)

7. Historic leap

With his 8.36-meter leap in the sixth and final round, Chinese long jumper Wang Jianan claimed the country's first gold medal in any horizontal jumping events at the world championships on July 17 in the United States to deliver another boost to China's track and field community following sprinter Su Bingtian's 100m final appearance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Members of team China and president of Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) Liu Guoliang pose for photos during the awarding ceremony after the men's teams final match against Germany at the 2022 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan province, Oct 9, 2022. (JIANG HONGJING / XINHUA)

8. Dominance consolidated

China won all eight matches to claim its fifth consecutive women's team title at the 2022 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships held in Chengdu on Oct 8, before the all-conquering Chinese men's side swept aside Germany 3-0 in the final one day later to lift the men's team trophy for the 10th time in a row.

The triumphant Team China members show off their gold medals at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on Nov 2, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

9. Going beyond the bar

With near-perfect displays of strength, balance and composure, the Chinese men's artistic gymnastic squad cemented its return to top of the sport by reclaiming the world team title on Nov 2 in Liverpool, England. A total of 257.858 points in the final saw China fend off longtime rival Japan by 4.463 points -the biggest winning margin since the 2007 worlds — to collect a record-extending 13th gold and 10th consecutive medal in the team showpiece.

Children play soccer at a kindergarten in Fuyang, Anhui province, June 21, 2019. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

10. Legal support reinforced

A revision to China's sports law was passed in June at the session of the country's top legislature and has taken effect since Jan 1. This was the first comprehensive and systematic revision since the law's initial enforcement in 1995. The revised Law on Physical Culture and Sports added four new chapters, aimed at providing stronger legal support and protection in areas, such as anti-doping, sports arbitration, sports industry and supervision and management of sporting events, to facilitate China's ambition of building a world-class sporting powerhouse.