Lang Ping is a well-known person in China, maintaining the nickname the "Iron Hammer" she picked up during her playing days.

A tough competitor both on and off the court, Lang Ping admits she was a bit uneasy about how her squad started things out in Rio.

"I think during the game, competition you never think what are you going to have or what you get. I think because, especially at the pool games we did not play that well. So we couldn't think that far. So we just said okay, right now it's the quarterfinals, we still have a chance. Let's play real volleyball. Forget about the pressure, forget about the result. Just go ahead and concentrate for the game. And then we did it. It was like a miracle. I couldn't believe that we beat the former champion, Brazil. That game really encouraged us."

China started their campaign with losses against the Netherlands, Serbia and the U.S.

However, they managed to finish 4th in the qualifiers, which was good enough to get them into the quarterfinals, where they upset defending Olympic champions Brazil.

And after getting through the Netherlands and into the final, Lang Ping says her players tried to shake off their previous results and just play "in the moment."

"I think because for both teams, we have 50 percent chance. The result you can't really think. You have to concentrate for the game because all the teams are the best. So it's going to be really, really hard to beat them, especially at the pool game we lost to Serbia like 3:0. So we had to concentrate to play every point. I think we were also very lucky win two points by set. It's very unusual. I think I'm very thrilled."

In helping lead her squad to victory, Lang Ping has become the fist person to win an Olympic volleyball medal as both a coach and a player.

"I think for a coach, I'm more happy for the players because I was a player that won the gold medal. I know, because we've been training so hard. We deserve something back. And then for the players too, I think they work every day, I think they deserve to have a good result. I am so happy for them. "

Lang Ping was part of the Chinese women's team which won gold in Los Angeles in 1984.

On top of becoming the only person to take gold as both a player and a coach, Lang Ping has also earned the distinction of becoming the first-ever woman to lead an Olympic volleyball team to a gold medal victory.

For CRI, I'm Victor Ning.