by Sportswriter Li Chunyu
PARISscratchjumpstart, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's tennis ace Zheng Qinwen became the first Asian player winning the women's singles gold at the Olympics, while Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia won the country's first Olympic medal after taking the women's 100m title at Paris 2024 on Saturday.
On the medal table, China lead with 16 gold medals, while the United States and hosts France rank second and third, respectively.
At Roland Garros, Zheng defeated Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-2, 6-3 to seize the women's singles gold, which is China's second Olympic tennis gold, following Li Ting and Sun Tiantian's crown in the women's doubles at Athens 2004.
"Since I was 10, my father always talked about Grand Slams and the Olympics. I know the Olympics means more to him than a Grand Slam. This Olympics has been a rollercoaster for me, with unprecedented pressure and tension," said the 21-year-old, who rallied past Germany's veteran Angelique Kerber and upset world No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland in a row to reach the final.
"I felt like I represented all of Chinese tennis, and winning the gold made all the hard work and struggles worthwhile," she noted. "Achieving dreams requires setting goals, but the journey will have its hardships, doubts, and sacrifices. Enjoy the process because every failure is a step towards success."
Chinese tennis players have embraced a harvest at the Paris Olympics, as Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen grabbed a mixed doubles silver on Friday, the country's best result in this event.
At the Stade de France, sprinter Alfred secured Saint Lucia's first ever Olympic gold by winning the women's 100m final, crossing the line first in 10.72 seconds, ahead of American Sha'Carri Richardson who took silver in 10.87. Melissa Jefferson, also of the United States, finished third in 10.92.
"Growing up, I used to be on the field struggling, running all over the place. I hope this gold medal will help Saint Lucia to grow the sport," said 23-year-old Alfred. "I have been trying to stay strong as much as possible. I am just happy it [the historic gold] happened in the biggest race of my career."
In the 4x400m mixed relay, the Netherlands scored a major shock by taking gold ahead of the U.S., who had been expected to win after having set a new world record of 3:07.41 in Friday's semifinal.
Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs achieved a 1-2 finish for the U.S. in the men's shot put, and Jamaican Rajindra Campbell took the bronze. Thea LaFond from Dominica won the women's triple jump title, while Markus Rooth clinched Norway's first gold medal at the Games by winning the men's decathlon title.
In the swimming pool, American swimmers won the mixed 4x100m medley relay in a new world record of three minutes, 37.43 seconds, knocking 0.15 seconds off the previous record held by Britain. China was just 0.12 behind to take silver, followed by Australia in third.
America's Katie Ledecky bagged the ninth Olympic gold medal of her career by winning the women's 800m freestyle title, who has claimed the 800m freestyle victory in each of those Olympics, adding Paris to her successes in London, Rio and Tokyo.
"I think especially in the 800m, a lot of miles, year after year. I had to trust that I could swim the race any way I wanted to. I wouldn't have pictured that in 2012," 27-year-old Ledecky said after the race.
Summer McIntosh of Canada touched the wall first in the women's 200m individual medley final, setting a new Olympic record of 2:06.56. Hungarian Kristof Milak pocketed the men's 100m butterfly gold.
Elsewhere, China's Chen Meng retained her Olympic title in the table tennis women's singles after defeating world No. 1 Sun Yingsha 4-2 in the final. Top-seeded pair Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan won the all-Chinese badminton women's doubles final over Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning.
Sunday will see the last competition day of swimming with four golds on offer, and the men's 100m final on track in the evening.■
