PARIS, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- 34-year-old Li Yuehong claimed China's fifth shooting gold at Paris 2024 after his victory in 25m rapid fire pistol here on Monday, while Armand Duplantis of Sweden cleared a world record 6.25m to triumph in the men's pole vault, breaking his own previous mark of 6.24m.
China now stands atop the medal tally with 21 gold medals, closely followed by the United States with 20 golds.
Chinese shooter Li, who earned bronze medals at both the Rio and Tokyo Games, finally clinched his maiden gold at his third Olympics. The veteran made 32 hits in the final, seven more than silver medalist Cho Yeong-jae of South Korea, while China's Wang Xinjie took bronze.
"This has been an incredible experience for me. All my hard work has paid off. I am extremely happy. This is a victory for not just myself but the whole team," said Li, the reigning world champion and world record holder.
"In China, we say, 'To be a better shooter, you must be a better man.' Your accuracy is a reflection of your integrity," Li noted. "We shouldn't obsess over beating others; instead, we should focus on overcoming ourselves. Shooting has also taught me to stay humble and calm when facing problems or difficulties."
With five gold, two silver and three bronze medals, China top the medal table in shooting and have achieved their best record at an Olympics, surpassing that of Beijing 2008, where Chinese shooters collected five gold, two silver and one bronze medals on home soil.
At the Stade de France, two-time world champion Duplantis successfully defended his pole vault Olympic title, as he cleared 6.25m with his third and final attempt to eclipse his previous world record set in April. The 24-year-old has broken the world record nine times and become the first man since American Bob Richards to win back-to-back Olympic pole vault titles in the 1950s.
"I felt very confident and really prepared going into today. I just broke world record at the Olympics, the biggest possible stage for a pole vaulter, which is my biggest dream since a kid," Duplantis said after the competition.
He added, "I haven't processed how fantastic that moment was. It's one of those things that don't really feel real. I think I can do it again, but I don't really care right now. I'm going to enjoy this victory."
Valarie Allman of the United States retained the women's discus Olympic title with a best throw of 69.50 meters to finish ahead of silver medalist Feng Bin of China with 67.51, while Croatia's Sandra Elkasevic took the bronze.
Britain's Keely Hodgkinson lived up to her pre-race billing to take gold in the women's 800m, while Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia and Kenya's Mary Moraa seized silver and bronze medals, respectively. In the women's 5,000m, Kenya's Beatrice Chebet crossed the line first in 14:28.56.
On an incredible evening of cycling, Britain set a new world record in each of their three runs of the women's team sprint. Team GB's trio of Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell and Emma Finucane eventually took the gold in a world record of 45.186 seconds.
"I just wanted to enjoy racing on my bike. I smiled every second on that track. A gold medal to start off is amazing," said 21-year-old Finucane. "It has been a crazy journey. Standing on the top of the podium and singing the national anthem were such 'pinch-me' moments. We knew we could do it, but we had to execute it perfectly."
The opening day of sport climbing saw Poland's Aleksandra Miroslaw break her own world record twice, setting in 6.06 seconds.
Also on Monday, defending champion Zou Jingyuan of China overcame a shoulder injury to capture the men's parallel bars title, taking the country's second gymnastics gold in Paris. Denmark's Viktor Axelsen and An Se-young of South Korea claimed badminton men's and women's singles title on the sport's last competition day.
In the 3x3 basketball, the Netherlands edged hosts France 18-17 to win the men's final, while Germany crowned in the women's event by defeating Spain 17-16.
Five athletics golds will be settled on Tuesday, as well as the women's 60kg boxing final.
