Chinese divers continue dominance, boxer Chang makes history in Paris

PARIS: China’s Xie Siyi and Wang Zongyuan combined to achieve a 1-2 gold and silver finish in the men’s 3-meter springboard diving final at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics on Thursday.

The 28-year-old Xie defended his title with a score of 543.60 points, 13.20 points clear of his 22-year-old compatriot Wang, who he previously teamed up with to win the men’s 3-meter synchronized event in Tokyo. Mexico’s Osmar Olvera Ibarra earned the bronze medal in the French capital with 500.40 points.

“I’m overwhelmed,” said Xie, who took a two-year break after the Tokyo Games and had to battle against injuries to return to competition.

The Chinese divers are looking to achieve an unprecedented sweep of all eight titles on offer in Paris, and have so far managed to win all six concluded events, with two remaining.

In weightlifting, China’s Olympic debutant Luo Shifang claimed the women’s 59kg gold medal by lifting 107kg in the snatch, and 134kg in the clean and jerk, adding up to a winning total of 241kg and setting three new Summer Games records.

The gold was China’s third in weightlifting in Paris, after Li Fabin and Hou Zhihui defended their titles in the men’s 61kg division and women’s 49kg division, respectively.

“This is my first Olympic Games and my team has been very good to me. They provided me with a really good environment, and I didn’t feel too much pressure. My goal was to compete for the gold medal, so I didn’t think too much about the record,” said the 23-year-old Luo.

Canada’s Maude Charron took silver and Tokyo Games champion Kuo Hsing-Chun of Chinese Taipei finished with bronze.

Meanwhile, China’s two-time Olympic champion Shi Zhiyong sustained an injury after failing on all three of his attempts in the clean and jerk to miss the podium in the men’s 73kg division, despite leading after the snatch with a best attempt of 165kg. Indonesia’s Rizky Juniansyah ended up with the gold.

Elsewhere, China’s Liu Hao and Ji Bowen claimed the men’s canoe double 500m gold, clocking a triumphant time of one minute, 39.48 seconds, ahead of Italian pair Gabriele Casadei and Carlo Tacchini and Spanish duo Joan Antoni Moreno and Diego Dominguez.

Olympic debutant Ji credited their victory to unconditional trust and support between himself and Liu, who became China’s first canoe sprint rower to win two medals at a single Olympics three years ago at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games.

“We were relaxed because we had been in the leading position all the way. We felt we were full of strength,” said a calm Ji, as opposed to an emotional Liu, who said he had trained so hard since Tokyo “just for this moment.”

In women’s boxing, Chang Yuan made history to win China’s first Olympic title in the sport in the 54kg division, following a clear unanimous decision victory against Hatice Akbas of Türkiye.

“After the Tokyo Olympics, my mindset changed significantly. I became less impatient and restless. Recently, while preparing for Paris, I’ve managed to control my mindset and emotions well. This competition might help me gain a deeper understanding of myself. There are probably still many areas where I need to make changes,” Chang said.

“I’m very excited. From the regret of the Tokyo Olympics to winning China’s first gold in women’s boxing today, it’s a huge moment for me. At Roland Garros, tennis players have seen the national flag rise, and this time, it rose because of me. I feel very proud and honored,” she added.

Also on Thursday, Cindy Ngamba became the first representative of the Refugee Olympic Team to win a medal at the Games after reaching the boxing semifinals, which guaranteed her at least a bronze.

Ngamba beat local fighter Davina Michel by unanimous decision at the North Paris Arena to advance to the last four in the women’s middleweight category at the traditional tennis venue Roland Garros.

The Refugee Olympic Team first competed at Rio 2016, and is designated to represent forcibly displaced people worldwide. The squad is comprised of 37 athletes competing at the Paris edition of the Games.

In athletics, multiple record-breaking performances took place at the Stade de France. American sprinter Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke her own world record to win the women’s 400m hurdles in 50.37 seconds, besting her previous mark of 50.65 seconds set in June.

Letsile Tebogo became the first African to claim the Olympic men’s 200m title in a new continental record time of 19.46 seconds. The 21-year-old earned Botswana’s first gold medal in Paris after holding off challenges from the USA’s Kenneth Bednarek and Noah Lyles, who revealed after the race that he competed despite testing positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week.

In other action, Arshad Nadeem secured Pakistan’s first gold medal in Paris with a new Olympic record of 92.97 meters in the men’s javelin final, and the USA’s Grant Holloway won the men’s 110m hurdles in 12.99 seconds.