Nevertheless, the bright side should not be overlooked. Two teenager divers, Xu Yanmei and Gao Min, brought home a gold medal each for their brilliant performances in the women's platform and springboard events respectively. Li Qing and Xiong Ni, also teenagers, collected a silver each in the women's springboard and the men's platform respectively. Their successes, plus the silver and bronze medals taken by Tan Liangde and Li Deliang in the men's springboard, filled a shining page in China's diving history.
Swimming used to be a weak sport for China, but a number of young Chinese swimmers came to the fore in Seoul, including Yang Wenyi (16 years old), Zhuang Yong (16) and Huang Xiaomin (18), who succeeded in getting a silver each in the women's 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 200m breaststroke respectively. Qian Hong (17), another promising swimmer, earned a bronze in the women's 100m butterfly. Their heartening achievements helped open a new era in China's swimming history.
In table tennis, a national sport in China, though the players were not in good form, they still managed to win gold in two of the four events contested, namely Chen Jing in the women's singles and Chen Longcan / Wei Qingguang in the men's doubles.
Chinese women rowers sprang a surprise by taking a silver and a bronze in the coxed fours and coxed eights respectively. This was heart-warming news indeed, for rowing was a young sport taken up by only a limited number of people in the country. The news that woman shot-putter Li Meisu gained a bronze -- the only track and field medal for Asia at the Games -- was also heartening.
(COC Sources)
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