 China march continues
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-12 08:48
The Chinese juggernaut took more gold medals in diving and weightlifting yesterday but came up short on the shooting range. Teenagers Lin Yue and Huo Liang claimed the men's 10m synchronized platform diving crown while weightlifters Chen Yanqing and Zhang Xiangxiang added two more golds to the tally. It was a good day for Chinese weightlifters. Zhang Xiangxiang came back to the Olympics after an eight-year break to win gold in the men's 62kg event beating Colombian Diego Salazar and Indonesia's Triyatno. (Page 4). Chen defended her title in the 58kg class and set new Olympic records with a 244kg total lift. She is the first woman to win two Olympic golds in weightlifting (Page 5). Young divers Lin Yue and Huo Liang took gold in their first Olympic outing in the men's 10m platform synchronized event (Page 7). China now leads the gold medal tally with nine on top of three silvers and two bronzes, ahead of Republic of Korea with four golds and three silvers.
Yesterday was also a day full of surprising action. Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra's netted his country its first individual gold medal in Olympic history coming up from behind to win the men's 10m air rifle event (Page 6). Swimmer Michael Phelps also stayed on course to set a new record of eight golds in a single Olympic Games thanks to teammate Jason Lezak. The US snatched a dramatic victory from the French in the 4x100 freestyle relay. Phelps' hopes were as good as gone when the Americans trailed at the start of the last 100m by more than a body length but veteran Lezak swam an incredible last 50m to give the US a win, literally by his fingertips, and Phelps his second gold of the Games (Page 8). Meanwhile Japan's Kosuke Kitajima became the first swimmer to win back-to-back Olympic golds in the men's 100m breaststroke while Federica Pellegrini of Italy and Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe set world record at the Water Cube. In three days of action, that takes the number of world records smashed to eight (Page 8). There were also two firsts in the judo competition. Azerbaijan's Elnur Mammadli needed only 13 seconds to beat world champion Wang Kichun of Republic of Korea to win the men's 73kg category and emerge as his country's first Olympic judo champion (Page 11). In the women's 57kg category, Italy's Giulia Quintavalle became her country's first female judoka champion when she beat Athens bronze medalist Deborah van der Gravenstijn of the Netherlands in the final. In a late women's tennis match, China's Li Na defeated No 3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the first round. China Daily and Agencies  (China Daily 08/12/2008 page2) |
