China pulls away in medals table
14/8/2008 17:57
China made a 1-2 finish in the women's 200m butterfly final with Olympic
debutant Liu Zige winning gold in a world record time in Beijing today.
There
were more successes for the hosts in gymnastics and shooting on Day Six, with Du
Li shrugging off defeat in the opening event of the Games to strike gold in
women's 3x40 rifle and Yang Wei grabbing the coveted men's gymnastics individual
all-round title.
With still 10 more gold medals at stake in the day, China
remains a runaway lead in the medals table with 20 golds, seven silvers and five
bronzes, followed by the United States (10-8-13) and South Korea (6-6-1).
In
front of thousands of home crowd at the Water Cube, Liu clocked two minutes
04.18 seconds to chop over a second off the previous mark set by Australian
Jessicah Schipper in 2006. Her compatriot Jiao Liuyang came second in 2:04.72,
and Schipper was third in 2:06.26.
"I didn't expect that I could swim so
fast, and I was so surprised to win the gold in a world record time," said
Liu.
It's the host nation's first swimming gold of the Games and only its
third since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where it grabbed four.
The
26-year-old Du shot an Olympic record 690.3 points to win the women's 3x40
rifle, five days after she finished a distant fifth in the women's 10m air rifle
and failed to grab the first gold of the Games.
"What was most difficult was
not the past four years but the last four days, which felt longer than four
years," said a relieved Du. "It was so hard since I lost my first event but I
held on."
It was exactly four years ago on August 14 that Du claimed her
first Olympic title in the 10m air rifle in Athens.
"I think this date brings
me good luck," she said.
In gymnastics, Yang, a two-time world champion,
maintained China's gold rush with a convincing victory in the coveted individual
all-around event. It is China's first Olympic gold in men's all round gymnastics
since Li Xiaoshuang's triumph in 1996 Atlanta Games.
To the spectators'
deafening cheers and applause, the 28-year-old amassed a total of 94.575 points,
nearly three points ahead of runner-up Kohei Ushimura of Japan. France's Benoit
Caranobe bronze on 91.925 points.
"I didn't fall asleep until midnight. Now,
I'm tired but also excited," said Yang. "I want to thank my coach and the
support from the spectators for also giving me strength."
On a day which
didn't see Michael Phelps gunning for a medal, Japan's Kosuke Kitajima took
center stage in the pool when he won the men's 200m breastroke final to repeat
the double breaststroke gold he claimed in Athens four years ago.
The
25-year-old, who won the 100m breaststroke on Monday in world-record time,
cruised to victory in the 200m in an Olympic record 2:07.64, just outside the
world record of 2:07.51 he set in Tokyo in June.
He is the first man to sweep
the breaststroke gold medals at two straight Olympics.
"I was not thinking
about winning two gold medals at two consecutive Olympics," he said. "That was
never my goal. I just focused on doing my best in Beijing."
Also in swimming,
France's Alain Bernard took gold in the men's 100m freestyle in 47.21, just 0.11
seconds ahead of Eamon Sullivan of Australia. Both men had set world records in
the semifinals.
The Americans' perfect record in the women's 800-meter relay
ended when Australia took the gold medal in a world-record 7:44.31. The US,
which has won every gold medal since the event was introduced in 1996, finished
third behind China. The US also held the previous record of 7:50.09 set at last
year's world championships.
Phelps, who is seeking to break Mark Spitz's
record of seven golds in one Games, set in 1972, has won five gold medals at the
Games and 11 overall.
Xinhua
|
