CHENGDU, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese swimmers made a splash in the pool winning four golds as host China kept leading the medal table at the Chengdu Universiade on Wednesday.
Displaying their dominance, the Chinese swimmers took four out of the six gold medals on offer.
Zhang Yufei from Southeast University of China, winner of the 200m butterfly and runner-up in the 100m butterfly at the Tokyo Olympic Games, timed 25.20 seconds for a new FISU record, to grab the gold of women's 50m butterfly.
Qin Haiyang, who is a student of Tongji University and won four gold medals in the just-ended World Aquatics Championships in Japan in July, reached the highest position of the podium in men's 100m breaststroke after clocking 58.92.
Liu Yaxin, representing Shanghai Jiaotong University, took the first place in women's 200m backstroke.
"There are many differences between the World Championships and the FISU Games. In the event, we have more intensive schedule. I was relaxed and the crowd's support brought me confidence," Liu said.
In the mixed 4x100m medley relay, the team of Wang Gukailai, Qin, Zhang and Li Bingjie finished first in 3:44.02, updating the FISU record.
In athletics, China's Song Jiayuan and Xia Yuyu claimed victories in the women's shot put and 10,000 meters race respectively on the first competition day of the sport.
Song established a dominant lead in the first throw with 18.24 meters, and outdid herself in the fifth attempt, capturing the crown with 18.56 meters.
In the women's 10,000 meters race, Turkish competitors Fatma Karasu and Yayla Kilic alternately led. Xia closely followed them until the final lap, where she successfully overtook them in the rainy weather.
"This is my final journey to the Universiade. I did not do well in my previous experience of the event as I got heatstroke. Today's gold awarded me a perfect ending. The zeal of Chengdu spectators also encouraged me a lot," said Xia.
China also collected three golds from taekwondo, gymnastics and diving.
China now tops the medal table on 36 gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze medals, followed by South Korea and Japan with 16 and 14 golds respectively.
