SHENZHEN swimmers Tang Muhan and Yang Junxuan as well as table tennis player Chen Meng won the China Youth May Fourth Medal — the top honor for outstanding young Chinese people, according to the annual list of the award’s recipients unveiled by China’s youth organizations Tuesday.
The three athletes are all from Shenzhen University (SZU). A total of 122 individuals and 33 groups were on the list, including Olympic athletes, researchers and engineers in the aerospace science and technology sector.
The Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and the All-China Youth Federation recently decided to award the medals to 49 young people and 16 youth groups, according to an official statement.
The awarding of the China Youth May Fourth Medal began in 1997 and usually takes place around China’s Youth Day on May 4 to award outstanding young Chinese people between 14 and 40 years old, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Tang, from Longgang District, is currently majoring in athletic training in SZU’s Faculty of Physical Education. She and her teammates, including Yang, shattered world records to win the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tang also grabbed gold in the women’s 400m and 200m freestyle at China’s 14th National Games in September last year.
Yang, who is majoring in athletic training in SZU, broke the Asian record twice in the women’s 200m freestyle in March and in May 2021. She is also the world record holder for mixed 4x100m medley relay. In addition, Yang won one silver in the 4x100m medley relay at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
During the 14th National Games, Yang claimed golds in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay, women’s 100m freestyle, and 4x100m medley relay.
Chen graduated from SZU and joined SZU’s table tennis club in 2016. In the last two years, she harvested a total of nine gold medals in international competitions.
Chen lived up to her status as the world’s No. 1 by overcoming compatriot Sun Yingsha 4-2 to claim the Olympic gold medal in the women’s singles table tennis competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Moreover, Chen, Sun and Wang Manyu beat their Japanese rivals 3-0 in the women’s team table tennis final at the Tokyo Olympics.
