In the evening of July 29 in Rome time, Chinese player Zhang Lin received the gold medal for the men's 800m freestyle final at the Rome Swimming World Championships. On that day, Zhang Lin won the first gold medal for the Chinese swimming team at this Rome World Championship, and also shortened the world record by 6 seconds. This is the first gold medal won by Chinese male swimmers in international competitions.
According to the China News Service on July 30, in today's early morning Rome Swimming World Championships, the 22-year-old Chinese player Zhang Lin overcame all strong opponents in the 800 meters freestyle event, winning the championship with a time of 7 minutes and 32.12 seconds and breaking the world record. This is the first time that a Chinese male swimmer has won a gold medal in a world competition at the level of the Olympics and World Championships! Its significance to Chinese sports may surpass Liu Xiang's 110 hurdles gold medal at the Athens Olympics, and Zhang Lin may also become the new "national idol".