customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Josh Ball

If you’re experiencing a certain sense of déjà vu, you’re not the only one. I’m pretty sure we’ve all been here before – China’s swimmers winning gold, a Hong Kong athlete also starring in the pool, and the US dominating the men’s basketball.
For the 2024 Paris Olympics, see the 2024 Paris Paralympics. Throw the US Open, some Test cricket, and the start of the football season into the mix and you have a recipe for a busy time on the global sporting calendar.
That’s without American football, where the Dallas Cowboys are still bad, and baseball, where Shohei Ohtani is still good. This then is just some of what happened while you were sleeping.
Enter the Dragons
Hands up if you had Jackie Chan awarding gold medals on your Paralympics bingo card. No, me neither, and yet here we are.

The action movie legend was on hand to watch cyclist Wang Xiaomei set a world record and win the women’s C1-3 3,000m individual pursuit, one of four golds China’s athletes picked up on the first day of competition.
Wang, who took silver in Tokyo, finished in three minutes and 41.692 seconds, 10 seconds ahead of silver medallist and Paralympic debutant Daphne Schrager.
“I’m so happy right now,” said Wang, after Chan presented her with her medal. “To be able to win the gold this time, I can only say thank you. Thank you to my team, thank you to my coach. Because of them, I got to where I am today.”
A golden start
Li Zhangyu won China’s first gold of the day, in the men’s C1 3000m individual pursuit, with teammate Liang Weicong gabbing silver.
Adding a fifth title to ones in London, Rio and Tokyo, Li set a world record of 3 minutes, 31.338 seconds in qualifying, knocking more than four seconds off the previous best.
China are the dominant force in the Paralympics, topping the medal table in Tokyo with 96 golds three years ago, and it’s hardly surprising that success comes in the pool.

Not that Yi Chen seemed particularly bothered by her world record time of 27.10 seconds to win the women’s S10 50m freestyle.
The 23-year-old said she was “unmoved” by her triumph, and happier for teammate Jiang Yuyan, who took home the women’s 50m freestyle S6 crown.
“I didn’t expect this at all,” Chen said. “I didn’t even think I would win gold. But I’m also a very calm person to begin with.”
Off the mark
Swimming success is something Hong Kong has enjoyed a lot of at major competitions in recent years, and Chan Yui-lam got the city’s Paralympics off to a flying start in the women’s S14 100m butterfly.
The 20-year-old set an Asian record of 1:03.70 to claim silver in a race won by Great Britain’s Poppy Maskill in a world record 1:03.00. Russia’s Valeriia Shabalina, competing for the neutral team, was third in 1:04.4.
“Her silver medal is well-deserved, showcasing the extraordinary capabilities of Hong Kong athletes with disabilities,” Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said. “All Hong Kong people and I are thrilled and proud of her.”
The more things change

Olympics, Paralympics, doesn’t matter, the USA are the team to beat to gold in basketball, and the men’s wheelchair side got their campaign off to a hard-fought start, with a 66-56 win over Spain in Group B of the men’s preliminary round.
Great Britain, who fancy their chances of taking that title, beat Germany 76-55.
Team GB, who finished second in the medal standings behind China in Japan with 41 golds, also made a winning start to the defence of their men’s wheelchair rugby title, as they beat world champions Australia 58-55.
A spot of tennis
Just in case you’d forgotten, although I don’t see how, the US Open is grinding its way through the early rounds in New York.
Speaking of grinding, there was more cannon fodder served up to ease the top players into peak form before the real business of the tournament begins.
Men’s world No 1 Jack Sinner won his 50th match of the year with a 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 victory over America’s 49th-ranked Alex Michelsen, while women’s star Iga Swiatek blitzed Japan’s Ena Shibahara 6-0, 6-1.
In other games of note, Yulia Putintseva beat China’s Wang Xinyu 6-1, 7-6, and Coco Gauff downed Germany’s Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-0.
England’s greatest batsman?

Despite having the misfortune of coming from the wrong side of the Pennines, cricketer Joe Root has not let that stop him from climbing to the top of the sport.
The 33-year-old Yorkshireman scored his 33rd Test hundred on Thursday, equalling Alastair Cook’s record for the most Test centuries by an England batsman.
Root’s 143 against Sri Lanka at Lord’s on the first day of the second Test, steadied an England wobble that had them at 42 for two early on. England finished the day at 358-7, with Gus Atkinson unbeaten on 74.
A Mickey Mouse competition
If you needed any evidence that European football has become largely meaningless, then Chelsea falling into the league phase of the Europa Conference League would pretty much do the trick.
A 2-1 defeat away at Swiss side Servette still saw the London club win 3-2 on aggregate, to reach the continental equivalent of the EFL Cup, or for those football historians out there the Sherpa Van Trophy.
Still, it will give boss Enzo Maresca somewhere to keep the fringe players on his bloated squad happy.


Spurs fans turn on Postecoglou, Newcastle down Wolves, US Solheim win, what happened overnight

Haaland strikes twice, Forest stun Liverpool, what happened overnight in world of sport

Livingstone leads England revival, United beat City, what happened overnight in world of sport

Man City charges date set, Wada cleared in China case, what happened overnight in world of sport

While you were sleeping

Paris Paralympics: China gold, Hong Kong silver, Jackie Chan and a host of world records

Hong Kong’s Chan Yui-lam is overcome with emotion standing on the podium after winning silver in the women’s S14 100m butterfly at the Paris Paralympics. Photo: AFP

Gold medallist Wang Xiaomei celebrates after winning the women’s C1-3 3,000m individual pursuit. Photo: AFP

Yi Chen waves to the crowd before being awarded her gold medal in the women’s S10 50m freestyle.

USA’s Steve Serio (left) fights for the ball with Spain’s Daniel Stix (centre) during the men’s preliminary round Group B match. Photo: AFP

England’s Joe Root celebrates his century on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. Photo: AFP

Paris Paralympics opening ceremony, Zheng Qinwen marches on, goals galore in Cardiff

Alpha Jets from the Patrouille de France fly over the Champs-Elysees as delegations arrive for the opening ceremony for the 2024 Paralympics. Photo: AP

Charles-Antoine Kouakou, Nantenin Keita, Fabien Lamirault, Alexis Hanquinquant and Elodie Lorandi raise torches next to the Olympic cauldron. Photo: Reuters

Jerry Shang Juncheng gets ready to serve to Roberto Carballes during their men’s singles second round match at the US Open. Photo: EPA-EFE

Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali returned to the Newcastle United team for their EFL Cup clash away at Nottingham Forest. Photo: AFP

Naomi Osaka gets emotional, Everton finally win a game, Travis Kelce buys a Swift horse

Naomi Osaka celebrates winning a point against Jelena Ostapenko during their first round women’s singles match at the US Open. Photo: EPA-EFE

French Open champion Iga Swiatek is chasing her second grand slam title of 2024. Photo: AFP

Turkey defender Ferdi Kadioglu has joined English Premier League side Brighton. Photo: Reuters

Williams driver Logan Sargeant walks away from his car after crashing during the third free practice ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix. Photo: AP

Everton striker Iliman Ndiaye (left) celebrates with teammate Idrissa Gueye after scoring his side’s second against Doncaster Rovers. Photo: AFP

Sport

Hong Kong

First full day of competition in the French capital brings out the stars, Sinner and Swiatek march on in New York, and Joe Root makes history


First full day of competition in the French capital brings out the stars, Sinner and Swiatek march on in New York, and Joe Root makes history.


Paris 2024 Paralympic Games