Chinese athletes put on explosive performances to grab gold medals as the London Olympics kicked off on July 27. Among the highlights, they broke records in several categories among 36 Olympic sports. These pictures show some of the most brilliant moments from China's Olympic medalists.

Yi Siling beams while holding up a gold medal atop the podium. She took the first gold of the London Olympics in the women's 10-meter air rifle on July 28 (LIU DAWEI)

Lei Sheng cries out in celebration of his victory in the men's individual foil final of the London Olympics on July 31 (ZENG YI)

Jiao Liuyang sets a new Olympic record of 2:4.06 on her way to winning gold in the women's 200-meter butterfly on August 1 (FEI MAOHUA)

Lin Dan turns the tables after losing the first game in a final of badminton men's singles and goes on to win his second Olympic gold on August 3 (REN ZHENGLAI)

Chen Ding wins gold in the men's 20-km walk and sets a new Olympic record of one hour 18 minutes 46 seconds on August 4. He became China's first race walker to win an Olympic medal (GUO YONG)

Zhou Lulu wins a gold medal in the women's +75-kg class in weightlifting competition at the London Olympics on August 5 (LIU DAWEI)

Xu Lijia wins Olympic gold in the women's Laser Radial class of sailing after a four-way shoot-out in the final race on August 6 (GONG LEI)