NATIONAL NEWS
August 14, 2008
China's Olympic Gold Rush
Swimmers and gymnasts help China pile up more gold medals
After 84 events, China leads the world in gold and total medals. Chinese athletes have grabbed 22 gold, eight silver and five bronze medals. Americans have ten gold, nine silver and 15 bronze medals. The Chinese broke world records in varied arenas, from weightlifting to shooting to swimming. With spins, flips and precision, Chinese divers and gymnasts thrilled fans—and won the admiration of judges.
 |  DAVID J. PHILLIP—AP Liu Zige swims for the gold in the women's 200-meter butterfly on August 14. |
Chinese swimmers weren't expected to make much of a splash in its pool lanes. But Liu Zige, a butterfly specialist, had other ideas. On Aug. 14, the 19-year-old grabbed a gold by setting a world-record time in the 200-meter butterfly final. Just behind her was another Chinese swimmer Jiao Liuyang, who claimed the silver. "I didn't expect I could swim so fast," said Liu. She demolished the previous world record by 1.22 seconds.
Liu's feat marked the return of a once-fearsome Chinese women's swimming squad. In 1994, the Chinese dominated the pool at the Asian Games. But the secret to China's success was soon exposed: drugs. Seven of China's swimmers tested positive for banned substances and were stripped of their gold medals. At the 1998 World Championships, four more Chinese swimmers were caught using drugs.
In recent years, China has worked hard to get its swimmers to the medal stand—without resorting to drugs and cheating. So far, Liu is China's only swimmer to strike gold at these Olympics. But the Chinese team has performed impressively. On August 10, Zhang Lin made history as the first Chinese man to win an Olympic swimming medal when he claimed a silver in the 400-meter freestyle. The Chinese women's squad also scored a second-place finish in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. Pang Jiaying contributed a bronze in the women's 200m freestyle. And the Chinese may not be done yet, with several key races in the next few days.
Gymnasts Reign SupremeSo far, China holds all three titles in gymnastics: men's team, women's team and men's individual all-around. The men's team won gold by a 7.250 margin, soaring over their Japanese rivals. When the scoreboard showed the final tally for the host team, the Chinese squad dissolved into tears. "There were many expectations of us," said Huang Xu. "I'm so relieved that we got the gold and realized China's dream.
With his gold in the men's all-around, three-time Olympian Yang Wei continued to keep China's dream of Olympic glory alive. When he realized he had won, he jumped up onto the podium and thrust his fists into the air. The crowd went wild, chanting his name and hugging each other. "Today was perfect," he said. "I felt tired before the competition, but after it I feel relaxed."
In the next few days, China should continue to dominate in several fields. There will likely come stellar performances in badminton and table tennis. Watch out for Team China!
