Inner Mongolian athletes shine with historic breakthroughs at Paris Olympics

In the recently concluded Paris Olympics, three athletes from North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region – Li Qian, Yang Liu and Niu Guangsheng – competed with valor and determination, bringing home one gold and one silver medal.

Their remarkable achievements not only bolstered the overall performance of the Chinese sports delegation but also marked a historic breakthrough for competitive sports in Inner Mongolia.

Li Qian, competing in her third Olympic Games, triumphed over Panamanian veteran Atheyna Bylon to secure the third gold medal for the Chinese boxing team. This victory ended Inner Mongolia's gold medal drought at overseas Olympics and made Li the first Chinese boxer to achieve a personal Grand Slam.

In the early hours of Aug 10, Beijing time, Yang Liu faced off against the formidable Algerian boxer Imane Khelif in the women's 66kg boxing final. Despite a hard-fought match that ended in defeat, Yang's courage and tenacity left a lasting impression on the Olympic stage.

Reflecting on her silver medal, Yang, a first-time Olympian, remarked, "The pressures of the Olympics are unlike any other competition. These experiences are invaluable. Although the result is bittersweet, it is still quite an achievement."

Niu Guangsheng, born in 2004, made history as the first swimmer from Inner Mongolia to qualify for the Olympics. On July 30, he competed in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay preliminaries, swimming the second leg for Team China. In a selfless act, Niu gave up his spot in the men's 200m butterfly preliminaries to focus on the relay. The Chinese team ultimately finished fourth in the final.

The Paris Olympics also saw other athletes with roots in Inner Mongolia making their mark. In the women's 20km race walk final, Yang Jiayu dominated the field, winning gold with a season-best time of 1 h 25 min 54 sec. She also teamed up with Zhang Jun in the marathon race walk mixed relay, finishing 15th.

Chen Yunxia, meanwhile, achieved sixth place in the women's quadruple sculls rowing event, and Zhu Yaming secured 10th place in the men's triple jump. Additionally, Wu Zhiqiang, part of the six-member men's 4x100m relay team, helped China to a seventh-place finish.