Team China punches to historic gold

Quiet, elegant and ferocious all in one — Chinese female boxer Chang Yuan put feminine ferocity on full display in the Olympic ring by claiming a historic gold medal to boost the sport's profile in her country.

Roland Garros Stadium in Paris witnessed a "first" for Chinese sports again on Thursday night as Chang punched her name into the history books after defeating Hatice Akbas of Turkiye via a three-round unanimous decision to win the country's first women's Olympic boxing title in the 54-kilogram division.

Chang's golden effort was celebrated just five days after Chinese tennis ace Zheng Qinwen won the country's first singles Olympic title at the same venue, Court Philippe-Chatrier, and the breakthrough has lived up to the renowned aphorism emblazoned on the arena's upper deck — "Victory belongs to the most tenacious" — a rousing slogan often attributed to emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

"All the sweat and blood, injury and defeat that I've endured on my way over the past 15 years has paid off. I am just so excited and speechless now," said Chang, a 27-year-old native of Hebei province, who started boxing at 12, influenced by her martial-arts-loving father.

"At Roland Garros, tennis players have seen the national flag rise, and this time, it rose because of me. I feel very proud and honored."

Now, as China's first female Olympic gold medalist in the sport, Chang expects to send a message with her bouts.

"Boxing can make women more confident because women are perceived as more fragile in terms of shape or strength. But boxing is an excellent sport for women to show their toughness, strength and beauty," said Chang, whose breakthrough sparked rousing reactions across China's boxing community on Friday.

Notable figures, such as Zou Shiming, a two-time men's light-flyweight Olympic champion, and Xu Can, a former WBA world featherweight belt holder, posted congratulations to Chang on social media, sharing their excitement about the inspiring momentum for women's boxing created by Chang's golden bout.

It was the Chinese delegation's second boxing medal at the Paris Olympics, following Yang Wenlu's silver finish in Tuesday's 60kg bout, and the world-leading ninth overall women's boxing Olympic medal achieved by Chinese mainland athletes since 2012.

"I made many changes. Mentally, I'm not as stressed out, I'm not as impatient, so in my preparations I've really made sure I remain calm, and I was more in control of my emotions," Chang said of her improvements since her quarterfinal loss at the Tokyo Games three years ago.

Hours after fans in Beijing celebrated Chang's win Friday morning, another pair of Chinese female athletes — paddlers Xu Shixiao and Sun Mengya — kept the momentum going by defending their Olympic gold medal in the women's canoe sprint double 500m after they finished first in a new Olympic best mark of one min 52.81 sec at Vairessur-Marne Nautical Stadium.