Global impact | Olympic Games are off and running, but rivals claim China success ‘not humanly possible’

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History, controversy and gold medals have seemingly gone hand in hand for China at the Paris Olympics, and we’re just a week in – was it really only last Saturday that the world was shaking its collective head at the French take on an opening ceremony?

In terms of history, Zheng Qinwen has already made some by becoming the first Chinese tennis player to win an Olympics singles final.

As has become custom, China won the first gold of the Games, with Chen Yiwen and Chang Yani taking the women’s synchronised 3-metre springboard within hours of the Olympics officially opening.

China are expected to sweep the diving events, and once Lian Junjie and Yang Hao grabbed the men’s synchronised 10m title, the one gold that eluded the team in Tokyo, that possibility only grew.

Shooting has been another area of dominance, with teenagers Huang Yuting and Shen Lihao grabbing three golds and a silver between them, and Jiayu Yang claimed the first athletics gold of the Games in the women’s 20km race walk.

History and controversy were side-by-side in the pool this week, with Pan Zhanle’s utterly dominant performance in the men’s 100m freestyle setting off a firestorm of claim and counterclaim.