Known as the “Iron Hammer” during her storied playing career, Lang Ping led China’s volleyball team to their first Olympic gold medal since 2004 Saturday night.
China, which finished fourth in pool play, rebounded from losing the first set to defeat Serbia in four sets, 19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23, in the gold medal match. Serbia was looking to make its first Olympic volleyball medal as an independent nation gold, but a Chinese team playing its best volleyball of the tournament at the right time kept that from happening.
China won last year’s world championships and they were ranked third in the world entering the tournament, so their winning gold isn’t a shock.