Three Zhanjiang athletes – Chen Yiwen, Liu Tingting and Chen Guangqin – were recently awarded First-Class Sports Medals by the General Administration of Sport in recognition of their performance in 2018.
Born in 1999, Chen Yiwen was drafted into the Guangdong provincial diving team in October 2010, and joined the national diving team – China's so-called Dream Team – in November 2016 as a rising star.
Chen Yiwen competes in the 18th Asian Games. [Photo/Xinhua]
In March 2018, the young woman claimed the title for women's 3m synchronized springboard at the 2018 FINA Diving World Series along with her teammate Wang Han, and won the mixed team event at the 21st FINA Diving World Cup along with Qiu Bo in July 2018. At the 18th Asian Games (Asiad) in August that same year, she took home a medal in women's 1m springboard.
Another Zhanjiang athlete, Liu Tingting, nabbed two gold medals in women's artistic gymnastics team and uneven bars at the Asian Games. She took home another gold medal for the beam competition at the 48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in November 2018.
Liu Tingting performs at the 48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. [Photo/Xinhua]
2018 was also a harvest year for Chen Guangqin, a 20-year-old native of Leizhou. The fledging garnered one gold and one silver medals at the 18th Asiad, and four gold and one silver medals at the 2018 International Dragon Boat Federation World Cup in October. At the 13th Asian Dragon Boat Championships, Chen helped China win three gold medals, one of which was China's first gold medal for international long-distance dragon boat racing.