Day 9: China adds 5 gold, back to top medals table
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E-mail CNTV, August 6, 2012
China added 5 golds, a silver and a bronze to move clear of the US at the top of the medals table. Chinese badminton players, a gymnast, divers and a weightlifter all excelled and helped add to the total.
In badminton, China has now won all of the gold medals up for offer here in London.
First up, was reigning men's singles champion Lin Dan against Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei, in a repeat of their Beijing showdown. Once again China's Lin came out on top, winning in three games 15-21, 21-10 and 21-19. It made the 28-year-old the first man to retain the Olympic singles badminton title. It also took China to within one match of completing a clean sweep of London badminton golds.
China's top men's doubles pair completed the job. Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng defeated Danish pair Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in straight sets 21-16 and 21-15.
Chinese badminton player Chen Long added bronze in the men's singles to help his team's total, after beating Lee Hyun-il of South Korea.
In the gym, China's Zou Kai presented a flawless routine on the gymnastics floor, successfully defending the title he won four years ago. In doing so he became only the second man to twice win the floor exercise at the Olympics. The 24-year-old who collected triple gold medals in Beijing, now has two in London, after helping the men's team win earlier in the week.
At the aquatic centre, there may be no more swimming, but there is plenty of diving and China's Wu Minxia and He Zi won gold AND silver in the women's 3 metre springboard. Wu, the world number one and reigning world champion was the heavy favourite and in the final she delivered!
Her brilliant dives gave her a winning score of 414.00. It is her sixth career diving medal, equalling the record of Guo Jingjing. Wu's compatriot and world number two, He Zi, came second with 379.20. Their individual medals follow the gold they won together in the women's synchronized springboard.
Finally, China's Zhou Lulu won gold in the women's 75 kilogram weightlifting final. Zhou was forced to lift an Olympic record in the second lift known as the clutch and jerk, in order to fend off Russian rival Tatiana Kashi-rina. Kashi-rina broke her own world record by lifting 151 kilograms in the snatch. That result piled the pressure on Zhou heading into the final round. But the Chinese athlete stepped up to the challenge in spectacular fashion, ending with a combined world record lift of 333 kilograms.
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