China Dominates Day 1 at Asian Winter Games

Chinese athletes blazed through the first day of the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, snatching EIGHT gold medals across snow and ice events! From gravity-defying freestyle tricks to lightning-fast speed skating, here’s how Team China made history:

Snow Queens Rule the Slopes

Li Fanghui (pictured below) kicked off the gold rush with a near-perfect 95.25 in women’s freeski halfpipe, while Zhang Xiaonan dominated snowboard slopestyle with a jaw-dropping 95.25 – 20 points ahead of teammate Xiong Shirui! Japan’s Ishii Himari took bronze.

Speed Demons on Ice

Gao Tingyu became the fastest man in Games history, smashing the 100m speed skating record with 9.35 seconds! Meanwhile, Ning Zhongyan left Japanese rivals in his frosty wake, breaking the 1500m record by 1.7 seconds.

Not to be outdone, Han Mei led a Chinese podium sweep in women’s 1500m speed skating – all three medals claimed in under 1:59!

Short Track Showdown

Lin Xiaojun snatched China’s sole short track gold, outracing South Korea’s Park Ji-won in the men’s 500m thriller. Cross-country skiers Li Lei and Wang Qiang added two more golds to cap off an epic day.

With 8 golds already in the bag, all eyes are on Team China as the Games continue through February 7! Will they break their own medal record? Stay tuned to @NewspaperAmigo for live updates.

Reference(s):

Chinese athletes off to a good start at 9th Asian Winter Games

cgtn.com