Li Fabin of China competes in the men's 61-kilogram weightlifting final at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, August 7, 2024. /CFP
Chinese athletes won six gold medals, two silvers and one bronze on Wednesday at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
Li Fabin and Hou Zhihui both broke Olympic records in their respective weightlifting events. Li won the men's 61-kilogram competition with a total of 310 kilograms, after setting a new Olympic snatch record of 143 kilograms.
Li told reporters he had originally planned to retire after this year's Games, but the excitement he felt in the arena might have convinced him to think twice.
Hou claimed the gold medal in the women's 49-kilogram division with 206 kilograms in total. She trailed Mihaela Cambei of Romania going into her final clean and jerk attempt, but hoisted 117 kilograms to set a new Olympic record and secure a come-from-behind victory.
China's athletes perform in the artistic swimming team acrobatic routine final at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, August 7, 2024. /CFP
China's third gold of the day came courtesy of the artistic swimmers, who earned 283.6934 points in the team acrobatic routine final. Their consistent performance enabled the squad to win the title with a lead of nearly 82 points over silver medalists the USA.
Deng Lijuan made history for China as well, after clinching the women's speed sport climbing silver medal. She finished the final in 6.18 seconds, breaking the Asian record, posting a personal best and securing the country's first Olympic medal in the sport.
Guo Qing added a taekwondo silver for China after falling to reigning gold medalist Panipak Wongpattanakit of Thailand in the women's 49-kilogram final.
Feng Ziqi defeated Otgonjargal Dolgorjav of Mongolia 6-0 in the second women's 50-kilogram freestyle wrestling bronze medal match, adding China's 17th bronze in the French capital.
China's players celebrate their 3-2 shootout win over Belgium in the women's field hockey semifinals at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, August 7, 2024. /CFP
China also reached the finals in several other events. The women's field hockey team returned to the Olympic final for the first time in 16 years after defeating Belgium 3-2 in a shootout following a 1-1 draw in regulation time.
Zhu Yaming ranked eighth in the men's triple jump preliminaries and qualified for the final with a mark of 16.91 meters.
Wang Zongyuan and Xie Siyi finished the men's 3-meter springboard semifinals in first and second place, respectively. They will compete for China's sixth diving gold in Thursday's final.