SALY, Senegal, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Su Juntao and Liu Lili won China's first gold medal at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Monday, claiming the mixed double sculls beach sprint title as coastal rowing made its debut at the event.
The pair clocked 2 minutes, 22.37 seconds at Saly Beach West, finishing 6.58 seconds ahead of Austria's Lukas Schoenhuber and Alena Lux. France's Raphael de Boussac and Elisa Guilloton took bronze.
The victory made Su and Liu the first Youth Olympic champions in the mixed double sculls beach sprint event, adding to their under-19 title at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Qingdao, China, last month.
"I felt really nervous. We didn't get rest after the world championships, so it's quite tiring," Liu said.
"Both of us are very strong, so that is our advantage, and we tried our best on the sea," Su added.
China coach Fei Penghui said the pair had entered the competition as strong contenders following their success in Qingdao.
"We had high expectations of winning the gold medal before the competition," Fei said. "The two athletes competed in the U19 event at the 2026 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Qingdao in mid-October and won the title. We are really proud of them."
Fei also highlighted the significance of winning gold in a discipline making its Youth Olympic debut.
"The Youth Olympic Games are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They earned their places here through hard work," he said.
China's Italian head coach Francesco Cattaneo praised the pair for maintaining their form after their recent world title.
"After winning gold in Qingdao, they have demonstrated their high level of performance again at the Youth Olympic Games," Cattaneo said. "To repeat that success is very difficult, and they did a very good job."
Coastal rowing beach sprints combine running on sand with rowing through open-water waves before a final dash to the finish. The discipline is also set to make its senior Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028.
Asked about the possibility of competing in Los Angeles, Su played down expectations, pointing to the strength of China's senior rowers.
"Well, I think the Olympics is still too far away for us, because our senior team is also strong," he said. ■
