news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

The Chinese team stood on the highest podium

On the closing night of the swimming competition at the Paris Olympics, a historic moment for Chinese swimming has arrived.

In the early morning of August 5th, Beijing time, in the men's 4×100m medley relay swimming event held at the Paris Olympics, the Chinese team composed of Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Sun Jiajun and Pan Zhanle swam a time of 3 minutes 27.46 seconds, defeating strong European and American teams such as the United States and France to win the gold medal. This is also the second gold medal for the Chinese swimming team in this Olympics.

Since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the US team has completed ten consecutive Olympic victories in the men's 4×100m medley relay. However, at the Paris Olympics in the early morning of August 5th Beijing time, the Chinese swimming team broke the 40-year monopoly of the United States.

What is even more exaggerated than the 40-year monopoly is that since the men's 4×100m medley relay first entered the Olympics in 1960, the US team has never lost this event except for the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

Chinese team members cheered after winning the championship

In this duel, there are enough details and stories behind every stroke.

In the first backstroke, Xu Jiayu's split score was 52.37 seconds, 0.07 seconds faster than the American backstroke veteran Murphy. As a long-time rival in the backstroke event, Xu Jiayu said a day ago that he had never beaten his opponent in the relay, but this time he gained an advantage for his teammates and finally won his first Olympic gold medal.

Xu Jiayu admitted after the game: "If I hadn't won the gold medal, I might have always felt very entangled, and it would have become a knot in my heart. Now that the knot has been untied, I will be more at ease to pursue some things about the essence of swimming."

Xu Jiayu and Qin Haiyang were excited after winning the gold medal

When Qin Haiyang jumped into the pool, a story of self-redemption began.

The slump in breaststroke once put too much pressure on Qin Haiyang. "After swimming the 100-meter breaststroke, I really wanted to give up. It was too painful. But I thought, as long as I persist, I will have a chance. If I give up, I will have nothing."

Before the relay event started, Qin Haiyang was lost in his emotions, but after regaining his form, he once again became the invincible breaststroke king at the Fukuoka World Championships - Qin Haiyang swam a split score of 57.98 seconds, giving the Chinese team a 0.64-second advantage.

Tan Haiyang said: "I think this is the most beautiful battle we have ever fought!"

The third leg, butterfly stroke, has long been a weak point for Chinese swimming. Sun Jiajun was not the best choice for this leg, but he was appointed when the original candidate, Wang Changhao, was unable to participate due to illness.

Sun Jiajun understands the importance of his performance to the team, with three world-class teammates. Sun Jiajun, whose personal best in butterfly stroke is 51.52, swam a split of 51.19 that night, giving it his all.

In an interview after the game, he first choked up and then took out a photo with his senior brother Yan Zibei. Three years ago in the Tokyo Olympics, Yan Zibei also shed tears on the field. At that time, Yan Zibei, who won the silver medal in the men's and women's 4×100m medley relay, said: "It's a pity that my coach didn't become the coach of an Olympic champion. This is also the closest to the gold medal."

Now, Sun Jiajun has completed his senior brother’s unfulfilled wish.

The Chinese team celebrates winning the championship

When Pan Zhanle entered the water, the Chinese team was ranked third, 0.75 seconds behind the host France team, which ranked first. It is almost impossible to catch up with the 0.75 second gap in the freestyle segment. But when you have the fastest man in the world in the 100-meter freestyle, everything is possible.

Even in the 100m freestyle final, Pan Zhanle was 1.08 seconds ahead of the second place, not to mention the relay event. Pan Zhanle swam a 45.92 second split in the freestyle leg, surpassing the French and American teams in the last 25 meters.

Thus, the 40-year monopoly of the American team was broken, and the gold medal belonged to China.

After the game, Qin Haiyang modestly said that there was still room for improvement. Pan Zhanle was more direct: "I admire these three very much. They said they were not satisfied, but the game was over. We are the champions. It should be others who are not satisfied."

This night happened to be Pan Zhanle's 20th birthday. A year ago, Pan Zhanle had made a birthday wish to swim under 46 seconds, and now he achieved his goal on his birthday night.

As the swimming events of the Paris Olympics came to an end, the Chinese swimming team won a total of 12 medals in this Olympics, including 2 gold, 3 silver and 7 bronze medals. The total number of medals won in a single Olympics exceeded the 10 medals in the 2012 London Olympics, the most in the history of the competition.

A total of four new world records were set in the swimming arena, one of which was 46.40 seconds set by Chinese athlete Pan Zhanle in the men's 100m freestyle final.