On August 5, the Chinese team, consisting of Xu Jiayu, Qian Haiyang, Sun Jiajun, and Pan Zhanle, won the gold medal in the men’s 4x100m medley relay final at the Paris Olympic Games.
After the event, Pan Zhanle posted on Weibo: “My 20th birthday gift – I fulfilled my promise made a year ago, celebrating my birthday with a team gold medal. Nine days of intense Olympic competition are finally over. Two golds and one silver – I’m pretty satisfied with that!”
The Xinhua News Agency covered this under the title “’Swim into 46 seconds!’ Pan Zhanle’s birthday was too exciting!” and further amplified the response to his victory.
The report noted that August 4 was Pan Zhanle’s 20th birthday. Before departing for the Paris Olympics, Pan had stated that after breaking the world record at the Doha World Championships, he set himself a goal: “To swim into 46 seconds in the men’s medley relay final on my 20th birthday!”