China claims 2 golds, 2 silvers on first canoe sprint medal day

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept 24 (Xinhua) -- China claimed gold in the women's kayak double 500m and men's canoe double 500m while also taking two silver medals on Thursday, the first medal day of canoe sprint at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

In the women's kayak double 500m final, China's Yin Mengdie and Yu Shimeng took the lead in the first half of the race and pulled further clear after the halfway mark, crossing the finish line first in 1:45.010, 3.130 seconds ahead of Kazakhstan.

The pair had won silver in the event at the World Championships in late August, China's best-ever result in the event at the championships.

"We took today's race seriously. It was a normal performance overall, and we worked well together throughout the race," Yin said.

She also noted that her partner, Yu, wore an orange hair clip during the race, which symbolized "making one's wishes come true."

"The Asian Games are also an important competition for us this year, and we hope to finish the year on a perfect note," Yin said.

In the men's canoe double 500m final, Ji Bowen and Wu Shengyue also made a fast start and gradually widened their lead, winning in 1:40.741, 2.137 seconds ahead of Uzbekistan.

Ji, who won the event at the Paris Olympics in 2024, said he focused on the process rather than the result.

"I tried not to attach too much importance to the result. If you do the process well, the result will naturally follow. During the race, my partner and I just focused on making every stroke and every section count and executing what we had prepared," Ji said.

The women's canoe single 200m final went down to the final moment. China's Shuai Changwen and Uzbekistan's Shohsanam Sherzodova crossed the finish line almost simultaneously, making the result difficult to determine at first. After a video review, Shuai was confirmed to have finished just 0.016 seconds behind her Uzbek rival and took silver.

In the men's kayak four 500m final, China's Liang Fengwei, Ding Shengkai, Chen Weiyang and Wang Jinwei were locked in a close battle with South Korea. China led early before being overtaken and eventually finished second in 1:22.842, 0.255 seconds behind South Korea.

Li Xin, head of China's canoe sprint team, said after the races that the overall level of canoe sprint in Asia has improved rapidly, with the gap between teams narrowing. "The Chinese athletes who missed out on gold today had previously beaten the same opponents they faced today, which shows how close the competition has become," he said.

"Revealing problems is not necessarily a bad thing. After returning home, we need to make further assessments and improve our preparations, particularly in terms of mental readiness and pre-race planning. We need to truly know ourselves and our opponents and use this experience to prepare for the upcoming Olympic cycle," Li added.