Olympics

Legion of Broom: China’s curlers live to sweep another day

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Aside from the comparative disappointment of only winning a bronze medal in the men’s aerials, Day 10 was a good one for China.

Chinese skip Liu Rui
Chinese skip Liu Rui

The men’s curling team – which only made its Olympic debut in 2010, finishing 8th – won through to its first Olympic semifinal on Monday with a 6-5 win over Great Britain. China’s skip, Liu Rui, led his team to a 7-2 record in the round-robin competition – bettered only by 2013 world champion Sweden (8-1) – and will now face Canada on Wednesday evening for a place in the final.

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Olympics

Consolation prize for China’s flying men in Sochi

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You win some, you lose some.

China most certainly won some earlier at these Olympics, with Li Jianrou and Zhang Hong both becoming unlikely Olympic champions alongside the more favored Zhou Yang, but it was in the aerials competitions – both men’s and women’s – where China was most expected to shine.

Jia Zongyang

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China up to 8th in Sochi, eyes best ever finish

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After a slow start, China has won medals on each of the last three days and its tally of 3 golds and 2 silvers has China in a very creditable 8th position overall at the time of writing. It was a golden Saturday for China, but Sunday could be a quiet day.

The surprisingly dominant Chinese men's curling team
The surprisingly dominant Chinese men’s curling team

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Gold number 3 for China: Zhou Yang defends her title

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China has won its third gold of the Sochi Olympics, continuing its dominance of the women’s short track events after sweeping all four titles in Vancouver. Following Li Jianrou’s shock win in the 500 m on Thursday (Day 6), Zhou Yang successfully retained her title in the 1,500 m on Saturday evening, winning the third Olympic gold medal of her career. No news yet as to whether she thanked her country afterwards…

Zhou Yang defends her 1,500 m title in Sochi

Olympics

Another medal for China on Day 7

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Day 7 review

The evening aerials competition provided some stunning shots
The evening aerials competition provided some stunning shots

Chinese interest on Valentine’s Day focused on the women’s aerials competition, but it was a late one: three of the four Chinese competitors made it through to the final, which didn’t start until 0130 China time. Once there, all three – Xu Mengtao (above), Li Nina and Cheng Shuang – made it through the first stage as four of the 12 finalists were eliminated; then Xu, the 2013 world champion, and Li, Olympic silver medalist in 2006 and 2010, made it through to the final four with defending champ Lydia Lassila from Australia and Belarusian Alla Tsuper, a 34-year-old mother taking the last jump of a 16-year Olympic career that had seen her finish 5th, 9th, 10th and 8th – but no medals. Continue reading Another medal for China on Day 7 →

Olympics

More gold medals on the way for China?

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Well that was unexpected.

Zhang Hong celebrates China's first ever Olympic speed skating titleChina won the 500 m women’s short track title for the fourth consecutive time – but no one would have guessed that Li Jianrou would be the one to do it – and then Zhang Hong (left) won China’s first ever (long track) speed skating Olympic title in an even more stunning result. It was also the first time China has won two gold medals on the same day at a Winter Olympics.

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China wins first two Olympic golds three hours apart

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Barely three hours after winning its first gold in Sochi, China has another one. Zhang Hong surprised the field by posting a sensational time early in the women’s 1000 m (long track) speed skating event, that was simply too good for the rest. Her winning time of 1:14.02, set in the 7th of 18 heats (the best skaters typically go towards the end), was a massive 0.67 ahead of second place.

Photo credit: AFP
Photo credit: AFP

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Olympics

China wins gold in Sochi!

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Li Jianrou celebrates after winning goldIt wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Fan Kexin was the anointed successor to China’s most decorated Winter Olympian Wang Meng, following Wang’s double ankle fracture in training last month. If Wang had been a certainty to win (at least in Chinese minds), then Fan was the next best thing, stepping into the breach as China’s short track production line all moved up one slot in the rankings.

It was all going according to plan: Fan posted the fastest time in the heats, then again in the quarterfinals. But it all went horribly wrong in the semifinals. Continue reading China wins gold in Sochi! →

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