Photo:GT
Team China made a strong start on Saturday at the Tokyo Olympic Games with three gold medals and one bronze medal, sparking waves of joyful cheers among Chinese audiences.
In the morning, Chinese athlete Yang Qian claimed the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympic Games in the women's 10m air rifle, which is also the first gold medal for Team China. Yang won gold with 251.8 points, a record-breaking score.
In the afternoon, Hou Zhihui won a gold medal in the women's 49kg-class weightlifting, marking the second gold for the Chinese delegation.
Hou Zhihui broke three Olympic records during the final - snatch at 94 kilograms, clean and jerk at 116 kilograms, with a total score of 210 kilograms.
The Chinese cheer squad was seen raising the national flag on the spot to celebrate Hou's victory and shouting "Team China is the best! Team China will prevail!"
At the 2019 IWF World Cup, she won four gold medals and set two world records. In this year's Asian weightlifting championships, Hou broke the world records of the snatch and total results.
In the evening, Chinese athlete Sun Yiwen edged Ana Maria Popescu of Romania to win the women's epee individual gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Sun beat Popescu 11 to 10.
Sun was born in 1992 in East China's Shandong Province. She made her debut at the Olympics in Rio in 2016 where she won the bronze medal in the épée individual final and a silver medal in the épée team final with her teammates.
Chinese athlete Pang Wei earned a bronze medal in the men's 10m air pistol.
Chinese table tennis players Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen qualified for the final eight in the mixed-doubles on Saturday.
Olympic medal tally Graphic: Feng Qingyin/GT
Team China's good start has won cheers on Chinese social media platforms.
The top topics on the Chinese Twitter-like Sina Weibo were all about the Olympics as Chinese audience were flooded with joy.
Yang Qian's pink and pearl-themed manicure, which she wore during the Saturday competition, caught the attentions of millions of Chinese girls. Many also said they were surprised by this 21-year-old girl who is currently studying at China's Tsinghua University, which recruits the best talents.
As of press time, Team China ranks top on the medal tally of Tokyo Olympics with four medals.
At the Rio Olympics, China bagged 26 gold medals and a total of 70 medals, ranking second in terms of total medals and third in terms of gold medals.
