Qin Haiyang of China competes in the men's 100-meter breaststroke final in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, September 25, 2023. /CFP
Chinese athletes secured 19 of the 38 gold medals awarded in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, on Monday with record-setting performances in multiple events.
Sheng Lihao, 19, became the first Chinese athlete to break the world record in this year's Asian Games by scoring 253.3 points in the men's 10-meter air rifle individual final.
Chinese swimmers continued to dominate the pool, winning four of the seven events on Monday. Yu Yiting set a new Asian Games record in the women's 200-meter individual medley event by finishing in 2:07.75. Qin Haiyang won the men's 100-meter breaststroke final in 57.76, breaking the Asian Games record (58.35) of the event that he had just set in the preliminary in the morning.
Athletes of China pose with their gold medals after winning the artistic gymnastics women's team event in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, September 25, 2023. /CFP
Siobhan Bernadette Haughey of China's Hong Kong and Ji Yu-chan of South Korea made their countries proud as well on Monday as gold medalists who set new Asian Games record in swimming events. Haughey won the women's 200-meter freestyle final in 1:54.12; Ji finished the men's 50-meter freestyle final in 21.72.
South Korea also set the new Asian record of 7:01.73 in the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay event, adding the ninth gold in the Asian Games.
China also secured the artistic gymnastics women's team title, retaining this gold for 13 straight editions of Asian Games.
Mazel Paris Alegado of the Philippines comeptes in the skaboarding women's park event in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, September 25, 2023. /CFP
In the two skateboarding events on Monday, Hinano Kusaki of Japan won the women's park gold while Chen Ye of China pocketed the men's park title. Most of the skateboarders competing in Hangzhou are teenagers, but the youngest one of them, Mazel Paris Alegado from the Philippines, is only nine years old.
As the youngest athlete in this year's Asian Games, Alegado had a truly memorable experience in Hangzhou. "I was so excited because I was about to skate the Asian Games – and I just did, so it was so fun," she said.
