Tag Archives: Lei Sheng

Olympics

Rio Review: Day 1

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China Medal Count

0 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze

Day 1: Medals

Silver: Du Li (women’s 10m air rifle); Sun Yang (men’s 400m freestyle)

Bronze: Yi Siling (women’s 10m air rifle); Sun Yiwen (women’s individual épée), Pang Wei (men’s 10m air pistol)

Day 2: Ones to Watch

The best chance likely comes in diving as Wu Minxia and Shi Tingmao go in the women’s 3m synchro. Elsewhere, Chen Xinyi and Lu Ying have made it to the final of the women’s 100m butterfly, but are not expected to win a medal, and Zhang Mengxue has qualified for the women’s 10m air pistol final. And I would have said reigning Olympic champion in the men’s foil Lei Sheng, but at the time of writing, China’s flagbearer has just been dumped out. Continue reading Rio Review: Day 1 →

Column, Olympics

Pressure builds on China as problems circle Rio Olympics

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China’s largest ever Olympic contingent of 411 athletes has brought expectations for a sizeable medal haul to Brazil. But with with local issues compounded by some wider – and more worrying – trends, it is no exaggeration to say that the Rio Olympics are facing potentially fatal headwinds.

The Rio Olympics are shaping up to be the most pivotal of recent times.

Not because the sporting action is any more anticipated than at previous Games – far from it – but because the Olympic concept has taken so many knocks in recent years that the very credibility of the Games is under threat.

Continue reading Pressure builds on China as problems circle Rio Olympics →