BEIJING (AFP) — Liu Zige and Jiao Liuyang produced stunning swims Thursday to win China gold and silver in the Olympic women's 200 metres butterfly, as shooter Du Li atoned for failing to triumph on day one.
On a day to remember for the world's most populous country, Yang Wei also won gold in the men's gymnastics all-around event and Zhang Juanjuan claimed her nation's first-ever archery title by breaking South Korea's stranglehold.
Yang Xiuli put icing on the cake by winning the women's -78kg judo division on a split judges' decision following a bout against Cuba's Yalennis Castillo.
It was a remarkable achievement in the pool by two women who have done little before, with Liu clocking two minutes 04.18 seconds to shave over a second off the previous world record held by Australian Jessicah Schipper.
Jiao's time was also under the old world mark, leaving Schipper to trail home in third place.
"I didn't feel pressure before the competition, I tried to relax," said Liu.
"And in the race I just swam at my own pace, not caring about others. My coach said to me that we will have two Chinese swimmers in the final, so you don't need to force yourself to win gold, you just need to try your best."
It was China's first swimming gold of the Games and only its third since its prime at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, when it won four.
Since then the squad has had to fight the stigma of doping scandals and managed just two titles in the following three Games -- one in 1996 and one in 2004.
But there was pain for Pang Jiaying, disqualified after winning her women's 100m freestyle heat for jumping before the start gun. Pang won bronze in the 200m freestyle.
Meanwhile, Du showed her mettle by bouncing back after the disappointment of failing to win the first gold medal of the Games on Saturday.
The crack markswoman suffered an embarrassing defeat in the opening event of the Olympics, with the defending champion finishing fifth in the 10m Air Rifle when she was tipped to win.
The pressure got to her and the honour of being China's first gold medallist instead went to weightlifter Chen Xiexia, who is set to become a millionaire through endorsements and sponsorships for achieving the feat.
But Du won plaudits Thursday by winning the 50m Rifle 3-Positions with a new Games record.
"It was so hard since I lost my first event but I held on," she said.
"I would like to thank the spectators, volunteers and my family who supported me and encouraged me. I was so moved that I knew I could not give up and needed to persevere."
Yang, the reigning world champion, secured the hosts' third gymnastics title ahead of Japan's Kohei Uchimura and Benoit Carabone of France.
Zhang brushed aside three South Koreans on her way to the women's individual archery gold, beating world number one and reigning champion Park Sung-Hyun 110-109.
"I have won the honour for all archers in China and I believe the future will be brighter," she said.
The medals helped boast China's overall tally to 22 golds, eight silvers and five bronzes in the battle to be the most dominant sporting nation on earth.
In the absence of Michael Phelps, the United States failed to win any of the day's swimming finals, leaving them with 10 golds, nine silvers and 15 bronzes.
Badminton bad boy Lin Dan booked his place in the men's last four by beating Denmark's Peter Gade, with Chen Jun joining him.
But China's third seed Bao Chunlai crashed out in a heated match against South Korea's Lee Hyu-Nil.
Meanwhile, China's highly-regarded women stormed into the semi-finals of the team table tennis competition, and the Yao Ming-led basketball team powered past Angola 85-68.
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