China leads with 41 golds, second in total medals
Tuesday, 19th August 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
As of 8:15 pm Beijing time on Tuesday, China had won two more golds, both in men's gymnastics, to bring their total number of gold medals to 41, or 16 more than Team USA's 25 golds. Great Britain was in third in the gold count with 15.In terms of overall medals, China trails the US, 77 to 72, with silver- and bronze-heavy Russia in third with 40 total medals.
Li Xiaopeng enters Chinese gymnastics pantheon
Li Xiaopeng (李小鹏) beat out Yoo Won-chul of South Korea and Anton Fokin of Uzbekistan to claim his fourth gold in men's gymnastics – this time in the parallel bars. This Olympics Li has surpassed Chinese gymnastics legend – and the star of these Olympics' opening ceremony – Li Ning as the winningest Chinese gymnast ever, with a total of 18 international first-place finishes to Li Ning's 14.
Zou Kai wins men's horizontal bar
Li's teammate Zou Kai (邹凯) beat out Jonathan Horton of the US and Fabian Hambuechen of Germany to win gold on the last day of artistic gymnastics competition. The medal is Zou's third gold medal in his first Olympics – earlier in the Beijing games he won gold in the men's team competition and also in the individual floor competition.
Li Xiaopeng image: news.cctv.com
Zou Kai image: english.people.com.cn
Tags: gymnastics, Li Ning, Li Xiaopeng, Zou Kai
China maintains gold lead, US takes lead in total medals
Tuesday, 12th August 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
On day four of the Beijing Olympics China added more gold medals to its takings, reaching a total of eleven golds by 6:45 pm Beijing time. Team China was followed by the United States with seven and South Korea with five.In terms of overall medals, the US took the lead with a big morning – especially in swimming events - that brought its total to 21, three more than China's 18. South Korea trailed the two giants with eleven total medals.
China snatches fourth gold in weightlifting
Late Monday, China continued its winning ways in weightlifting as Zhang Xiangxiang (张湘祥) lifted a total of 319 kilograms in the men's 62 kilogram category. After failing in his attempt to lift 184 kilograms on his final attempt, Zhang fell to the floor and bowed and then kowtowed to the applause of spectators. He then hugged the barbell that was unable to stop him from winning gold. Diego Salazar Colombia took the silver after lifting a total of 305 kilograms and Indonesian Triayatno won bronze with 298 kilograms.
China savors men's team gold in gymnastics
China's gymnastics team won gold by a comfortable margin in the all-round men's event. China scored 286.125 points. Silver went to Japan (278.875) and bronze to the United States (275.850). This marks a return to form for a team that took gold in Sydney and then failed to medal at all in Athens. Yang Wei (杨威), Huang Xu (黄旭), Li Xiaopeng (李小鹏) and Xiao Qin (肖钦) were all on the team that placed 5th in Athens. Chen Yibing (陈一冰) and Zou Kai (邹凯) rounded out the team.
China picks up third diving gold
Team China achieved its third diving gold today as the teenage duo of Wang Xin (王鑫) and Chen Ruolin (陈若琳) came top in the women's synchronized 10m platform competition. Wang, who turned 16 yesterday, and Chen scored 363.54 points, to clinch first place in an event that China has won since its introduction at the 2000 games in Sydney. Australia (335.16) took silver, with Mexico close behind (330.06) for bronze.
Zheng Jie starts off on a winning note
Sichuanese tennis sensation Zheng Jie (郑洁), whose performance in Wimbledon earlier this year made her an instant star in China and around the world, has won her first two matches at the Olympic Green Tennis Center, where she is receiving a rock star welcome from the home crowd.
On Monday, Zheng defeated 11th-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary in three sets (4-6, 6-3, 7-5) to the audience's delight. On Tuesday she overcame Spain's Nuria Llagostera 6-7(7), 6-1, 6-4 in an error-filled three-hour epic. Despite starting both matches down one set, the 5-foot 4-inch powerhouse from Chengdu was able to use her blistering serve and powerful backhand to overcome her early deficits.
Zheng will take on Dinara Safina of Russia in the third round of the women's singles tournament.
Images: Reuters via Yahoo! News
Tags: Chen Ruolin, Chen Yibing, Huang Xu, Li Xiaopeng, Olympics, Wang Xin, Xiao Qin, Yang Wei, Zhang Xiangxiang, Zheng Jie, Zou Kai