Chinese shooters, divers shine on Day 3 of Paris Olympics

The Chinese delegation continued to shine at the ongoing Paris Summer Olympics, winning a total of two gold medals and four silvers, while the delegation's players took victories in the knockout stage of table tennis and group stage of volleyball, among other sports. 

Shooting

World record holder Sheng Lihao of China set an Olympic record with a score of 252.2 points in the men's 10m air rifle competition on Monday to clinch his second gold medal at Paris 2024, followed by Victor Lindgren of Sweden and Croatia's Miran Maricic.

"I'm quite satisfied with my performance at the Paris Olympics. As you could see, I encountered some difficulties during the competitions, but I managed to hold myself together and complete them," said Sheng who won silver in the event in Tokyo. 

Meanwhile in the women's 10m air rifle, China's Huang Yuting was just 0.1 points shy of South Korean Ban Hyo-jin to take the silver.

Earlier on Saturday, the 19-year-old Sheng and 17-year-old Huang won the first gold of the Paris Olympics in the 10m air rifle mixed team event.

Diving

Lian Junjie and Yang Hao triumphed in the men's synchronized 10m platform to gift China the second diving gold and the fourth overall at Paris 2024, scoring 490.35 points.

Nicknamed "Dream Team", the Chinese diving squad are en route of a golden sweep in Paris this time. Three years ago in Tokyo, they bagged seven of eight golds, missing out on the men's synchronized 10m platform, which was won by Britain's Tom Daley and Matty Lee.

Daley, who is now a five-time Olympian, paired up with Noah Williams to win silver.

"We felt a lot of pressure as our arch-rivals from Britain were drawn to dive just ahead of us. They performed very well during the final. We are thrilled to grab the gold," said 23-year-old Lian.

"Before we started the competition, I felt like I had achieved what I wanted to. When I look back at my career, I can say I have done what I can to be the best diver I can possibly be," said Daley.

Fencing

Hosts France finally clinched a much-anticipated fencing gold at the Paris Olympics, as Manon Apithy-Brunet beat compatriot Sara Balzer in an all-French women's sabre individual final. As a powerhouse in fencing, France narrowly missed the highest podium on the first two competition days with two silvers in the men's and women's epee individual events.

Meanwhile, Cheung Ka Long from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China defended his men's foil individual title. He started strongly and held off a late scare, scoring three points in a row to achieve a thrilling 15-14 victory over Italy's Filippo Macchi.

The 27-year-old Cheung clinched Hong Kong SAR's first-ever Olympic fencing gold three years ago in Tokyo. He is now the first athlete from Hong Kong SAR to win two Olympic gold medals and the first athlete in this event to win back-to-back golds since 1956. This is the delegation's second gold medal in Paris, following Vivian Kong's women's epee individual gold on Saturday.