Young athletes dazzle in pool, on two wheels

New blood keeps Chinese delegation pumped up for more success in Paris

China, known as a diving superpower, has earned bragging rights for its "bicycle kingdom "status as well, landing historic gold with a victory on two wheels at the Paris Olympics.

Competing in elite sports involves athletes defying gravity quite often, though perhaps few of Deng Yawen's peers have dazzled with the same level of complication as she did on her bike on Wednesday in Paris.

With bar spins, high-flying flips and then the killer trick of double tail whips — twice, no less — the Chinese favorite Deng, a runner-up in qualifications, brought oohs and aahs from the crowd at the La Concorde in the heart of Paris. She executed her second run almost flawlessly to score a field-high 92.6 points and finish on top of the podium in the BMX freestyle park final.

It was China's first Olympic gold medal in the young urban sport, which made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, and its third across all cycling disciplines overall, following two golds in the women's track cycling team sprint at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

Overwhelmed with pride and joy, Deng, in a post-final interview, expressed appreciation for all the support from her coaches, and she thanked association officials. The athlete even thanked herself for making a bold decision seven years ago.

"Looking back, and regardless of what the future holds, definitely it was the best decision of my life," said Deng, a junior track and field athlete who chose to join the new Chinese BMX freestyle program in 2017.

"As uncertainly risky as it looked back then, it has paved the way to where I am now. And I really appreciate myself for making that bold switch at that time and all the hard work I've put in on the way," said Deng, an 18-year-old native of Southwest China's Sichuan province.

Perris Benegas of the United States won silver with 90.7 points from her second run, while Australian rider Natalya Diehm settled for bronze with an 88.8-point first run.

Freestyle park in BMX, or "bicycle motocross", involves athletes riding across a park course set up with jumps, ramps and rails to perform wheel spins, flips and tail whips, among other tricks, within 60 seconds in each run. The Olympic final features the top eight from qualification rounds and ranks riders by their best run out of two attempts.

Deng set the tone with an impressive 92.5 in her first run, building an early lead in the field. But she had to deliver under pressure in her second, after Benegas scored 90.7 points in her second run to gain on Deng, and Deng's teammate Sun Jiaqi fell on both her runs.

Deng rose to the occasion, holding her nerve to improve her score to 92.6 points in the second attempt to secure the gold amid rousing cheers at the iconic Parisian square.

Her breakthrough followed Wednesday morning's golden start in the diving pool to keep the whole Chinese delegation pumped up for more success in Paris.

China's diving super-teen team of 17-year-old Quan Hongchan and 18-year-old Chen Yuxi kept the diving "dream team" on course for a clean sweep of all eight golds in Paris by winning the squad's third in women's synchronized 10-meter platform in the morning session.

Team China has now won every single gold medal — seven in a row — in this event since its Olympic inclusion at Sydney 2000. The world champions pair put their collective pursuit of perfection on full display by finishing five rounds of dives, all in optimal "rip entry", a delicate entry that appears splashless and has been mastered by China's elite divers.

Jo Jin Mi and Kim Mi Rae of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea won silver, the nation's first ever diving medal at the Olympics, while British pair Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson completed the podium at third.

"Everything is close to perfection," Spendolini-Sirieix said of her Chinese rivals after the final. "They are the best of the best. I'm always clapping just watching their dives. They go in the water like they are sleeping."