China won more medals and gold than ever before, how did the host country manage that?

Nine gold medals, fifteen in total, and a third place in the medal table: host country China can be satisfied. The country barely has a winter sports tradition (except in the Northeast), but tried to catch up with that at an accelerated pace in the run-up to the Winter Games. It succeeded with flying colors: it won more medals and more gold than ever before at the Winter Games. How did China manage that?

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