China sweep 3 golds in canoe sprint on Mid-Autumn Festival

Chinese canoeists bagged three canoe sprint gold medals in as many events as they contested, celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival on Friday at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

As canoe sprint entered its second medal day, the Chinese crew of Yu Shimeng, Yin Mengdie, Wang Nan and Shen Siyu took the lead from the start and steadily extended their advantage to win the women's kayak four 500m final in 1:33.784, 2.777 seconds ahead of Uzbekistan.

The crew has enjoyed a dominant season, winning all three World Cup races in the event and claiming the world title in August. The victory made it the first Chinese and Asian crew to win a world title in the women's K-4 event.

"We performed quite normally today. When we crossed the finish line, I felt a sense of relief. We have achieved our goal for the major competitions this year," Yu said.

She added that she had not been in her best form recently, but her teammates had continued to support one another.

Friday also marked China's Mid-Autumn Festival and Wang's birthday. The crew said they planned to prepare a small cake that night and sing a birthday song together. "There are so many happy occasions to celebrate," they said.

In the men's canoe single 500m final, China's Ji Bowen took the lead in the first half and accelerated after the halfway point to widen the gap. He crossed the finish line first in 1:47.338, beating his Uzbekistani rival by 0.607 seconds.

Ji, the Paris Olympic champion in the men's canoe double 500m, has also enjoyed a consistent season in the C-1 event, winning the Asian Championships and two World Cup titles before taking bronze at the World Championships in late August.

In the women's canoe double 500m final, China's Sun Mengya and Ma Yanan quickly moved into the lead and controlled the race in the second half, winning in 1:54.700, 1.719 seconds ahead of the Uzbekistani pair.

Sun previously partnered with Xu Shimiao to win this event at both Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.

Now she and Ma renewed their Asian Games partnership following their victory at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games to again grab the gold medal.

"After going through injuries, being able to return to the national team and compete again is an honor for me. I'm also very happy to partner with Mengya again and win gold," Ma said.

"For us, today's gold medal has a special meaning because it is the Mid-Autumn Festival. The best gift we can give is to dedicate this gold medal to our country and to everyone who has supported us," Sun said.

Four gold medals were contested in canoe sprint on Friday. South Korea won the men's kayak double 500m in 1:31.859, edging Japan by 0.317 seconds.