Hong Kong, 5 August 2024 (TDI): China’s internet exploded with celebration and pride Monday after the country’s swimmers ended the United States’ decades-long reign in the men’s 4×100 meters medley at the Olympics.
Pan Zhanle, who set the world record in the 100m freestyle last week, powered China from 3rd position into the lead in the final leg of the relay on Sunday, overtaking his US and French rivals in a stunning reversal.
Pan finished in 45.92 seconds, faster than the 46.40 seconds he swam four days earlier in the 100m final.
Team USA finished 0.55 seconds behind the Chinese team, failing to take gold medal in the event for the first time since the US boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics and ending its unbeaten streak stretching back to the men’s medley debut at the 1960 Games.
This is China’s second gold medal in swimming at the Paris Olympics, following Pan’s record-setting victory last Wednesday.
The victory dominated discussions on Chinese social media on Monday, generating several top trending topics on microblogging site Weibo.
The hashtag “Pan Zhanle’s stunning reversal” racked up over 500 million views, as did another hashtag about the relay gold medal.
Pan, who turned 20 on Sunday, called the team gold his birthday present.
I fulfilled the promise I made a year ago by celebrating my twentieth birthday with a team gold medal, he wrote in a viral Weibo post, where the swimmer became an overnight celebrity with 1.6 million followers.
A new journey has started, and the goals have been quietly set. I hope I can make an even greater contribution to the national team. The Chinese swim team is always the best, he added.
Pan also won fans for his candidness and confidence.
In a pool-side interview with state broadcaster CCTV right after the win, some of Pan’s teammates said they were unhappy with their own performance in the earlier legs of the relay. Pan cheered and commended his teammates.
He said that race is over, and the championship is ours. It should not be us who are dissatisfied, it should be the others.
