PARIS: Two teenagers stole the limelight at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.

The 17-year-old diving prodigy Quan Hongchan won her second gold at the Games and third of her career to maintain China’s perfect record in the sport in the French capital while 14-year-old Austr­alian Arisa Trew stood atop the podium after clinching the women’s park skateboarding competition.

Also in Paris, powerhouse Harrie Lavreysen led the Netherlands to the men’s team sprint cycling gold medal in new world record time to successfully defend their title.

Quan sealed a China one-two in the women’s 10m platform, her winning total of 425.60 points keeping team-mate Chen Yuxi at bay for silver with 420.70.

Quan also won the 10m platform at the Tokyo Olympics, when she was just 14, and then took gold in the women’s synchronised 10m platform in Paris with Chen.

“I spent three years that were very difficult. I overcame a lot of things,” Quan said afterwards, explaining her tears in victory. “If I list all of them, we will never finish. I’m very happy to have this gold.”

Quan has come a long way to become one of China’s elite Olymp­ians and hugely popular back home.

She was one of five children born into a poor rural family. Her father was an orange farmer and her mother worked in a factory until a road accident left her in poor health.

Quan has previously said that she was motivated to win to pay for her mother’s hospital bills.

The triple Olympic gold medallist has earned legions of fans in China as much for her bubbly personality as her sporting prowess.

A mischievous smile never far from her face, she was asked to describe her overriding feeling after her latest triumph.

“Hungry,” she replied. “Let’s get something to eat.”

On a sun-soaked day at La Concorde, Trew delivered a technical masterpiece in her final run to beoame the first Australian woman to win an Olympic skateboarding medal.

Trew saved her best for last, delivering a gutsy and precise performance on her third and final run and was rewarded with a huge score of 93.18.

Starting the run in the bronze medal position, Trew opened with a 360 over the box and went on to produce a pair of stunning 540s in a technical run that none of the other seven skateboarders in the final could match.

“I’m so excited right now,” Trew told reporters. “It’s just crazy.”

DUTCH SMASH WORLD RECORD

Lavreysen and his partners Roy van den Berg and Jeffrey Hoogland clocked a blistering 40.949secs at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome as the Netherlands consigned Britain to silver. Australia took the bronze.

It was their second world record of the session after posting 41.191 in the heats to better the 41.225 they set at Berlin in 2020.

The same trio won gold in Tokyo three years ago, ending the dominant reign of the Jason Kenny-led British team that owned the title in Beijing, London and Rio.

Japan’s Kenichiro Fumita clai­med the first wrestling gold of the Games, winning the men’s 60kg Greco-Roman event beating Cao Liguo of China, who settled for silver.

Elsewhere, Germany’s Christian Kukuk with his grey Gelding Checker unexpectedly won gold in showjumping, showing a flawless ride in the final jumpoff between the three best riders while one of the hottest contenders, world champion Henrik von Eckermann of Sweden, fell from his mount.

Kukuk’s victory, which followed German gold medals in individual eventing and dressage as well as in the dressage team competition, cemented Germany’s standing as the sport’s powerhouse.

In the quarter-finals of the men’s basketball, Serbia fought back from 24 points down to edge Australia 95-90 in overtime and set up a potential showdown with the United States.

Patty Mills scored 26 points for Australia but three-time NBA MVP Jokic tallied 21 points and 14 rebounds, and made the physical difference in overtime as the Serbs stayed alive.

Another NBA star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, exited the competition as Greece lost 76-63 to Germany. Germany will play France for a spot in the final after the hosts recorded a rip-roaring 82-73 win over Canada.

Before Paris woke up on Tuesday, two gold medals had been decided in the surfing competition nearly 16,000 kilometres (9,950 miles)away in Tahiti.

Tahitian Kauli Vaast surfed a near perfect final to claim the gold medal for France in the men’s event at Teahupo’o, leaving Australian tube-riding maestro Jack Robinson with silver.

Caroline Marks of the United States added Olympic gold to her 2023 world title with a tight victory over Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb in the women’s final.

THE SOARING SWEDE

On a pulsating night at the Stade de France on Monday, Sweden’s Armand Duplantis fulfilled a childhood dream as he broke his own pole vault world record in retaining his Olympic crown.

The US-born Swedish great was the sole vaulter to go beyond the six-metre mark, leaving American Sam Kendricks trailing in a distant silver, with Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis in bronze.

After securing gold again, it was then a case of how high the 24-year-old Duplantis could go.

He set a record of 6.24m in April but with the Stade de France holding its breath, he bettered that on his third and final attempt at 6.25m before milking the deafening applause of the crowd.

“What can I say? I just broke a world record at the Olympics, biggest possible stage for a pole vaulter,” Duplantis said. “The biggest dream since a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics and I’ve been able to do that in front of the most ridiculous crowd I’ve ever competed in front of.”

Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet produced a masterful display of tactical running to win the women’s 5,000m and end defending champion Sifan Hassan’s dream of a long-distance treble.

Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson produced a thrilling gun-to-tape run to win the women’s 800m while America’s Valarie Allman defended her discus title.

In football, substitute Juanlu Sanchez struck a late winner as Spain came from behind to beat Mor­occo 2-1 and reach the final of the men’s competition. There they will face hosts France who defeated Egypt 3-1 after extra-time.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2024