Family members, teachers and students at former schools of the members of the Chinese artistic swimming team gathered to watch them compete at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, where they claimed China's first ever gold medal in the team event.
At the Dazhou Sports School in southwest China's Sichuan Province, where swimmers Xiang Binxuan and Xiao Yanning were students, teachers, current students, as well as Xiang's parents and brother, watched the event together.
The team event consists of three parts - team technical, team free and team acrobatic.
The nine-member Chinese team took the lead in the first two routines in the team technical and team free to enjoy a 69.42-point advantage ahead of the second-placed United States.
With a routine called "Light of Life," they scored 283.6934 points in the team acrobatic for a record-high of winning total of 996.1389.
Their performance was greeted with cheers and applause in the room.
"I cry every time I watch her games, because I'm so nervous as soon as I see her. I think the coaches have trained her really well, and she herself is really good. She has realized her dream because of her hard work and dedication," said Wang Ying, Xiang’s mother.
"Xiang Binxuan and Xiao Yanning displayed outstanding skills in this contest. They have been training hard for a long time, so they deserve this result," said Li Guoquan, a swimming coach at the school.
At Shenzhen Sports School in the southern province of Guangdong, where twins Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi were pupils, their parents, enlightenment coach and athletes at the school also gathered to watch the event. They burst into deafening cheers as the girls clinched the gold medal.
"I'm very happy and excited that they have realized their long-cherished dream on this Olympic trip. It has long been their dream to compete at the Olympic Games and stand on the podium together to win glory for our country," said Wang Huiqi, father of the twins.
"I feel happy and proud of them. Hope they win again in the following duet routines," said the twins' enlightenment coach Hu Lianghui.
China earned its first artistic swimming medal - a bronze medal in the team event - at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, and won silver in the team event and bronze in the duet at London 2012. China has won two silver medals in the artistic swimming competitions at the past two Olympic Games.
In the World Championships, China topped the podium for the first time in the free combination event at Budapest 2017.
The artistic swimming duet routines will take place on August 9 and 10.
Family members, teachers and students celebrate Chinese artistic swimming team's gold
