French Marchand bags 4th swimming gold, China top medal tally

The 22-year-old French swimmer, Leon Marchand pocketed his fourth gold medal of the Paris Olympics on Friday while Chinese duo Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong were crowned in the badminton mixed doubles.

Also with victory in the men's synchronized 3m springboard, China top the medal tally with 13 golds.

The hosts France rank second with 11 golds, already winning more titles than their performance at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.

In the swimming pool, local hero Marchand clinched his fourth gold medal in the men's 200m individual medley, who set a new Olympic record of one minute, 54.06 second, more than a second ahead of the silver medalist Duncan Scott of Britain. Defending champion Wang Shun of China claimed bronze, almost two seconds off the pace.

Marchand is the first Frenchman to win four medals at a single summer or winter Olympic Games, having also triumphed in the 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke, and 400m individual medley here. He is just the fourth swimmer in history to achieve the feat, joining Michael Phelps (2004, 2008), Mark Spitz (1972) and Kristin Otto (1988).

"Winning four [gold] medals in five days, I don't know what to say," Marchand said. "After the semifinals on Thursday night, I was really tired, but it was a great race. I'm so happy. You never forget a moment like that. It was incredible, it was magical."

The other two swimming golds of the day were claimed by Australian swimmers. World record holder Kaylee McKeown secured her fifth Olympic gold medal by winning the women's 200m backstroke title, while her compatriot Cameron McEvoy finished first in the men's 50m freestyle final.

At Roland Garros, Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen of China made history by cruising into the tennis mixed doubles final, but they failed to stand atop the podium after losing to Czech's pair Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac 6-2, 5-7, 10-8.

Chinese favorite Zheng Qinwen will chase for the women's singles gold on Saturday, facing the 13th seed Donna Vekic of Croatia.

On the second competition day of athletics, the United States 4x400 meters mixed relay team, consisting of Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, and Kaylyn Brown, finished their heat round in three minutes, 7.41 seconds, over a second faster than the previous world record.

In the men's 10,000m final, Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei saw off illustrious rivals from the United States, Ethiopia and Kenya to take gold.

"When I took silver in Tokyo, I was disappointed. I wanted just to win the 10,000m. This is the most special day for me," the 27-year-old also encouraged the young people in Uganda to pursue their own dream. "You can achieve it."

The first badminton gold of Paris 2024 was settled at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena, where Zheng and Huang beat South Korea's Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun 21-8, 21-11 to triumph in the mixed doubles.

A romantic scene happened after the final - Huang was proposed by her teammate and boy friend Liu Yuchen, embracing another delightful moment in her life on Friday. The 30-year-old Huang said, "Getting the gold is a recognition of our journey. I was surprised the engagement ring, and we haven't thought about how we will celebrate."

Chinese divers continued their gold rush, as Wang Zongyuan and Long Daoyi withstood a strong challenge from Mexico's Juan Manuel Celaya Hernandez and Osmar Olvera Ibarra to win the men's synchronized 3m springboard title, which was the fourth gold of the Chinese diving "Dream Team" in Paris.

Despite two below-par dives, the Chinese pair adjusted quickly and finished the last and most difficult dive to claim the victory with a total score of 446.1 points from six rounds, 2.07 ahead of the Mexican runners-up.

"It's the toughest competition for us so far. I know we were behind the Mexican divers after the fourth round," said the reigning Olympic champion Wang. "I just told my partner to stop looking at the scoring board. There was nothing to be scared of."

On Saturday, there will be five gold medals in athletics on offer, including the women's 100m title, at the Stade de France.