China secured the first two Gold medals at the rain-affected Paris Olympics on Saturday, with swimmers Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus gearing up for a highly anticipated showdown in the pool.
China, aiming to dominate the Olympic medal table for the first time since 2008, started strong by winning early Golds in shooting and synchronized diving.
Teenage duo Sheng Lihao and Huang Yuting clinched the first Gold for China in the mixed team 10-metre air rifle event, while divers Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen triumphed in the women’s three-metre springboard final.
Australia celebrated its first Gold medal as cyclist Grace Brown won the women’s individual time trial over 34.2 kilometers.
Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel, fresh off his World’s championship win, overcame rain and strong competition to secure victory in the men’s event.
A total of 13 Gold medals were contested in Paris on Saturday, despite ongoing wet weather causing problems for organizers, who faced challenges after Friday’s rainy opening ceremony.
The men’s street skateboarding competition, scheduled at the Place de la Concorde, was postponed to Monday due to wet conditions.
The rain also interrupted the opening rounds of tennis at Roland Garros, leading to numerous match cancellations and rescheduling.
Friday’s opening ceremony featured 7,000 athletes parading along the River Seine on a flotilla of boats, culminating in a spectacular light show at the Eiffel Tower and a performance by singer Celine Dion. The ceremony received generally positive reviews, although some criticized it as “full of surprises but often disjointed,” according to France’s Le Figaro daily.
The International Olympic Committee had to apologize for mistakenly introducing South Korean athletes as North Korean during the ceremony.
French President Emmanuel Macron praised the event, saying it made the host country “extremely proud,” but cautioned that security challenges still lay ahead, noting that “the next weeks will be difficult even if we have now passed a fundamental stage.”
