No prizes for guessing who won the first gold medal of the Guangzhou Asian Games — the script was well choreographed for Yuan Xiaochao and China and that was just Act 1.
Wushu, the Chinese martial art, offered the first of 28 gold medals yesterday and two-time world champion Yuan Xiaochao obliged by winning the changquan discipline in confident style before 10am on the first day of competition.
The Chinese won 18 of the next 27 finals, including all five in dance sport’s Asian Games debut, five of six on the shooting range, four of six in the pool, two each at both weightlifting and wushu and the men’s team event at gymnastics.
Photo: Hsu Ming-li, Taipei Times
China has 28 medals overall, with 18 gold.
Japan and South Korea picked up four gold medals apiece.
There are 35 finals scheduled for today, day two of competition.
The scene for the opening day was set early with the 22-year-old Yuan, an avid Bruce Lee and Jet Li fan who harbors ambitions of working in a kung fu movie, but not for the time being.
“I feel very lucky to be able to compete for China’s first gold medal ... very happy to get that first gold medal,” he said. “The win has a significant meaning for me. It is also a good way to make the world know China and Chinese Wushu.”
China topped the medal count at the last Asian Games in Doha with 166 gold medals, well clear of second-placed South Korea’s 58. The host nation’s only medal target in Guangzhou, where 476 gold medals are at stake, is to surpass the 2006 total.
Japan, third in the medal count at Doha, picked up gold and silver in the women’s triathlon — the first gold medal contested outdoors at Guangzhou — with Mariko Adachi leading teammate Akane Tsuchihashi across the finish line in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 45 seconds.
“Now I feel very proud to get Japan’s first gold medal,” Adachi said.
Japan and China shared the honors in the pool at Doha. So far this time, China leads 4-2.
Takeshi Matsuda won the 200m butterfly and Yuya Morihata the 400m individual medley for Japan.
Japan was expected to dominate judo, but South Koreans won three golds on the mats on the first of four days of competition, including Hwang Hee-tae in the under-100kg division and Kim Soo-whan in the over-100kg category.
South Korea had earlier collected their first gold of the Games at shooting, winning the 50m pistol men’s team event with 1,679 points to open the program.
That was a standout at the range, where Chinese shooter Yi Siling became the first multiple gold medalist of the Games by winning the women’s 10m air rifle and the 10m air rifle team title.
Competition also got under way in cricket, which was making its debut at the Asian Games, but most of the local attention was on wushu.
Yuan’s coaches had shielded him from the domestic media, which has closely followed his chances of claiming the first gold.
Handlers had to hustle Yuan out of a press conference after he was mobbed by breathless reporters shouting questions.
He even missed the spectacular opening ceremony on Friday night, when athletes from all 45 competing countries were ferried down the Pearl River to an island venue for an extravagant show of fireworks and light.
“To have the best competition, I have to get rest,” he said. “It’s mostly to help me relax.”
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