*

Zhang Lin, China's first male swimming champ

Friday, 31st July 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

Zhang Lin on the front page of Titan sports news, next to the headline: Lin's Breakthrough
Zhang Lin on the front page of Titan sports news, next to the headline: Lin's Breakthrough
When Zhang Lin became China's first male swimming champion on Wednesday, he also quickly became the top sports story in the country. Zhang broke the world record formerly held by Australian Grant Hackett by more than 6 seconds, posting a time of 7:32.12. It is the first gold for a Chinese man in major international competition. Zhang's training under Hackett's coach in Australia in 2007 was given much of the credit for his success at last year's Olympics, where he won silver in the 400 meter freestyle. There is no 800-meter event in the Olympics.

Zhang is drawing comparisons to Liu Xiang and Yao Ming as a trailblazing Chinese athlete. And with both the hurdler and the basketball star nursing major injuries, Zhang is undoubtedly China's top active sportsman (sorry, Yi Jianlian). Look for him on ice cream commercials and city bus advertisements soon. He swims again Sunday in the 1,500, an event in which he placed 7th at the Beijing games. In a rare case of collar-popping by a Chinese coach, his coach is predicting another win Sunday, according to Hong Kong newspaper The Standard

Getting less press is Zhao Jing, who took the gold and set a new world record in the women's 50-meter backstroke (27.06 seconds). China's women have won four medals at the games—Liu Zige's silver in the 200 butterfly, a one-three finish for Zhao and Gao Chang in the 50 backstroke, and a gold medal for the four-by-200 backstroke relay team.

Here's a look at a few more Chinese newspapers that highlighted Zhang's win.
Beijing Evening News: After waiting for years, Zhang Lin can finally exhale
Beijing Evening News: After waiting for years, Zhang Lin can finally exhale

Beijing Youth Daily: Lin's Breakthrough
Beijing Youth Daily: Lin's Breakthrough

Literally,
Literally, "Zhang Lin sword-fingers 1,500 meters." Basically, he's ready to take on the next challenge.

The Beijing Evening news gave the women's 4X200 the front page, but no headline.
The Beijing Evening news gave the women's 4X200 the front page, but no headline.


Tags: Gao Chang, Liu Zige, swimming, swimming world championships, world record, Zhang Lin, Zhao Jing