Families and friends of the four Chinese swimmers burst into cheers as they watched the Chinese quartet winning the men's 4 x 100m medley relay of swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Monday.
The Chinese quartet of Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Sun Jiajun and Pan Zhanle claimed the men's 4x100m medley relay gold in three minutes, 27.46 seconds, more than half a second ahead of the U.S. team of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Caeleb Dressel and Hunter Armstrong.
The result broke the United States' run of 10 successive gold medals in this event dating back to the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games.
In Wenzhou City of east China's Zhejiang Province, the audience of the live stream, made up by the gold medalists' relatives, cheered for the athletes' excellent performance with the excitement reaching a high at the point when the team topped the competition ranking.
"He finally fulfilled his dream. My son has finally become a champion, an Olympic champion. Thank you, everyone," said Yu Zhenzhen, Xu Jiayu's mother.
"You are the best, the very best!" said Pan Jianxian, Pan Zhanle's father.
In the men's 4x100m medley relay final, Sun Jiajun substituted for his teammate who felt poorly, and took on the third leg.
In Yichang City of central China's Hubei Province, Sun's family also gathered in front of the television, watching punctually and witnessing this thrilling moment.
"After years of hard work, he finally stood on the highest podium. I'm very excited," said Sun Haibing, Sun Jiajun's father.
In his post-match interview, Sun burst into tears before saying a word, a moment that his mother especially empathized with.
"He cried because of the pressure, and I can understand that. I understand him. He was excited, and he didn't know what to say. That's how he feels," said Chen Zaorong, Sun's mother.
Families, friends cheer for Chinese Olympic gold medalists in swimming
Israel bombed a school housing displaced Palestinians in Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing at least 18 people including staff members with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and wounding dozens of the displaced seeking shelter there.
UNRWA has confirmed that six of its staff were killed in two airstrikes on the Al-Jaouni School in Central Gaza's Al Nuseirat refugee camp, including the shelter's manager.
UNRWA said the deaths mark the highest number of its staff killed in a single incident over the past 11 months.
In a statement on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the fatal attack on the school housing refugees, and called the lack of civilian protection in Gaza "unconscionable".
He also said the lack of accountability for Israel's killing of UN staff and humanitarian workers in Gaza is completely unacceptable.
Meanwhile, an Israeli government spokesperson said the attack was legitimate, accusing Hamas of using the school as a command and control center.
Hamdi Ali, the father of one of the children who died in the Israeli bombing, shared the hardships they've lived through. But despite everything, he said he will remain in the school because there is no safe place to go.
"We are peaceful civilians. We were displaced to this school in search of safety and reassurance. I lost my son Obaida in the bombing, and I don't know who else I’ll lose next time. Maybe I'll lose my wife, the rest of my children, or even myself. I could be one of the next victims, or any of the other displaced people here in the school," said the father.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, dozens of people injured in the attack on the school have been sent to Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospita, among whom a large number are women and children.
"We were surprised by a missile that penetrated three floors and hit the place where we were. Half of the floor collapsed and my sister fell down. My other sister and I were injured by missile shrapnel and were trapped under the rubble. One of my sisters had a broken arm, and the other had injuries on her head and back," said Lubna Jalo, a witness of the airstrike.
The Al-Jaouni School shelters about 12,000 displaced Palestinians, with most of them being women and children. It is run by UNRWA and has been bombed five times since the beginning of the ongoing war.
Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.
The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip had risen to 41,084, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Wednesday.
Israeli airstrike on Gaza school kills UN staff, displaced Palestinians
