China breaks US' swimming grip
2024-08-05 17:08:35
By HENG WEILI in New York | chinadaily.com.cn
China ended the United States' 64-year unbeaten run in the men's 4x100 meters swimming medley at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
Amid deafening cheers at La Defense Arena, a converted rugby stadium, the 100-meter freestyle world-record holder Pan Zhanle led his teammates Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang and Sun Jiajun to victory as they recorded a time of 3 minutes, 27.46 seconds.
On Wednesday, Pan's time of 45.92 in the freestyle was one of the fastest 100m freestyle splits in history.
"This is magic for me," Pan, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Sunday, said of the medley victory. "We make a good team and we managed to get a great result."
The United States took the silver, 0.55 seconds behind China, while France, powered by Leon Marchand, won the bronze, finishing nearly a second behind.
"Today China was just a little bit better. I think all of us going in, we're putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to be great out there. ... So hats off to China, they did a great race tonight," Ryan Murphy of the US team told reporters.
"That was a monster split for Pan ... so that's a pretty cool birthday present," said Hunter Armstrong of the US.
Qin, who swam the breaststroke leg in the medley, was also crucial in the victory with a time of 57.98 to beat France's four-gold medal winner Marchand.
Chinese swimmers had been unfairly portrayed in Western media reports about some food-contamination cases, raising doubts over their capabilities. Pan's success came as a timely, powerful response.
Acknowledging that he had been under tremendous pressure, Pan said that he had slept little before the final because of a doping test that ran into the early hours of the morning.
According to World Aquatics, swimming's global governing body, Chinese swimmers were tested on average 21 times from Jan 1 to the start of the Games. In comparison, Australian and American swimmers were tested only four and six times on average, respectively.
Although the US topped the swimming total with eight gold medals, the results were under par for the country since the 1992 Olympics.
The Americans had trailed Australia until the last day of swimming Sunday, when they secured two more gold medals in the men's 1500m freestyle and women's 4x100m medley relay, improving on world records in both events.
Bobby Finke of the US set a world record in the 1,500-meter freestyle, finishing in 14 minutes, 30.67 seconds to break the record of 14:31.02 set by Sun Yang of China at the 2012 London Games.
Legendary US swimmer Katie Ledecky last week won both the women's 800m and 1500m freestyle, raising her Olympic gold medal total to nine. She has won the 800m freestyle four times in a row, a feat achieved only by the US' Michael Phelps from 2004 to 2016.
Agencies contributed to this story.
Xu Jiayu (center). [Photo/Xinhua]
Gold medalists Team China (top), silver medalists Team USA (left) and bronze medalists Team France attend the victory ceremony for the men's 4x100m medley relay in swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Sunday. DU YU / XINHUA
China ended the United States' 64-year unbeaten run in the men's 4x100 meters swimming medley at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
Amid deafening cheers at La Defense Arena, a converted rugby stadium, the 100-meter freestyle world-record holder Pan Zhanle led his teammates Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang and Sun Jiajun to victory as they recorded a time of 3 minutes, 27.46 seconds.
On Wednesday, Pan's time of 45.92 in the freestyle was one of the fastest 100m freestyle splits in history.
"This is magic for me," Pan, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Sunday, said of the medley victory. "We make a good team and we managed to get a great result."
The United States took the silver, 0.55 seconds behind China, while France, powered by Leon Marchand, won the bronze, finishing nearly a second behind.
"Today China was just a little bit better. I think all of us going in, we're putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to be great out there. ... So hats off to China, they did a great race tonight," Ryan Murphy of the US team told reporters.
Pan Zhanle in action. [Photo/Xinhua]
The Americans did not compete at the 1980 Moscow Games due to a boycott, but they had never been beaten in the men's medley final dating to the inaugural event at the 1960 Rome Games."That was a monster split for Pan ... so that's a pretty cool birthday present," said Hunter Armstrong of the US.
Qin, who swam the breaststroke leg in the medley, was also crucial in the victory with a time of 57.98 to beat France's four-gold medal winner Marchand.
Chinese swimmers had been unfairly portrayed in Western media reports about some food-contamination cases, raising doubts over their capabilities. Pan's success came as a timely, powerful response.
Acknowledging that he had been under tremendous pressure, Pan said that he had slept little before the final because of a doping test that ran into the early hours of the morning.
According to World Aquatics, swimming's global governing body, Chinese swimmers were tested on average 21 times from Jan 1 to the start of the Games. In comparison, Australian and American swimmers were tested only four and six times on average, respectively.
Pan Zhanle (right) in action. [Photo/Xinhua]
Under such circumstances, Chinese swimmers showed their resilience with a collection of two gold, three silver and seven bronze medals.Although the US topped the swimming total with eight gold medals, the results were under par for the country since the 1992 Olympics.
The Americans had trailed Australia until the last day of swimming Sunday, when they secured two more gold medals in the men's 1500m freestyle and women's 4x100m medley relay, improving on world records in both events.
Bobby Finke of the US set a world record in the 1,500-meter freestyle, finishing in 14 minutes, 30.67 seconds to break the record of 14:31.02 set by Sun Yang of China at the 2012 London Games.
Legendary US swimmer Katie Ledecky last week won both the women's 800m and 1500m freestyle, raising her Olympic gold medal total to nine. She has won the 800m freestyle four times in a row, a feat achieved only by the US' Michael Phelps from 2004 to 2016.
Agencies contributed to this story.
Sun Jiajun in action. [Photo/Xinhua]
Qin Haiyang in action. [Photo/Xinhua]
Xu Jiayu (center). [Photo/Xinhua]
