[Photo provided to China Daily]

In the crowd in New York was die-hard Lang fan Zhang Qiyue, the Consul-General at China's general consulate in New York.

Speaking about her idol, she said: "When I was in college (in the 1980s), there was no TV in the dormitory, and we walked a long way to find a black-and-white TV set. Everyone shared the excitement of watching her and her teammates.

"Coach Lang and the Chinese women's volleyball team embody the spirit of not giving up.

Their tenacity reflects the spirit of China. This will inspire people in all walks of life to persevere and succeed," she says.

China's women's volleyball team won five world titles in a row in the 1980s, and the nation's morale was boosted so much then that the "spirit of the women's volleyball team" has since become the spiritual anchor for many Chinese who strive to achieve something big.

Speaking about her future, Lang Ping who was hobbling slightly at the event as a result of a hip injury she sustained after the Olympics, said she could not say for certain whether she would continue to coach the Chinese women's volleyball team. She said it would depend on her recovery.

Asked where she was going to spend the Lunar New Year, Lang said: "I will probably stay in the US for surgery, but it does not matter, I am at home everywhere."