Day 11 Roundup: China wins inaugural gymnastics mixed team gold at 2026 Youth Olympics

China won the first gymnastics mixed team title at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Wednesday, with Yang Lanbin and Chen Ziyan combining for a steady performance across three rounds.

Yang scored 13.966 points on the floor exercise and Chen earned 13.866 on the balance beam. Japan took silver, while Israel claimed bronze.

"It was an event that really put the team's tactics to the test. I just had to believe in myself. I knew I could do it. Having practiced so much, you're bound to succeed. I just knew I could make it," Chen said.

The gymnastics mixed team event, making its debut at the Youth Olympics, featured 12 teams, each comprising one man and one woman.

The competition consisted of three rounds, with the bottom four teams eliminated after each of the first two rounds. In each round, the male gymnast selected one event from floor exercise, parallel bars and horizontal bar, while the female gymnast chose from uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. The two scores were added together to determine the team's result for that round.

The gymnasts could not both choose floor exercise in the same round, and neither athlete could repeat an event in subsequent rounds.

Yang and Chen opened with solid routines on the parallel bars and floor exercise, respectively, to finish second in the first round and advance. Daniil Smirnov, who had won the men's individual all-around title on Tuesday, fell off the horizontal bar, resulting in Russia's elimination.

China topped the second round after Yang and Chen delivered steady performances on the horizontal bar and uneven bars, respectively.

"We focused on consistency today and arranged for both gymnasts to perform their strongest events in the final round as they competed with their last opponents for the gold," China coach Zhang Xia said.

In boxing, China's Zhang Zhengkun lost to Puerto Rico's Jesfred Joel Torres Santiago in the men's 60kg semifinals, and shared the bronze medal with Türkiye's Muhammet Ali Arli.

Zhang said, "I am very proud to have represented my country, and I hope to compete for my country in the future. My only regret is that I couldn't reach the top of the podium this time."

The boxing competition will conclude on Thursday, with 10 gold medals to be decided.

In the women's beach handball, China lost 2-1 to France in the quarterfinals before falling to Mexico in the 5-8 playoffs. China will contend for the seventh place with Kenya on Thursday.

In the women's windsurfing, Wu Ziyan stood third overall after 12 races, with the final three races scheduled for Thursday.

In fencing, Canada's Simon Shan defeated Serbia's Vukan Radjenovic to win the men's epee title. China's Pan Qimiao will compete in the women's sabre event on Thursday.

Taekwondo concluded its last three individual events on Wednesday. Serbia's Ema Zecirovic won the women's +63kg title, while Jordan's Ahmad Aldahamsheh and Iran's Benyamin Soltanian claimed gold in the men's 73kg and +73kg categories, respectively. The taekwondo mixed team title will be decided on Thursday.

In the women's futsal, Ukraine beat Venezuela 4-3 in the final to claim gold, while Iran defeated Italy 5-2 to take bronze. Portugal and Argentina will vie for the men's futsal gold on Thursday.

The breaking competition will also get underway on Thursday, with China's Cui Shengyu set to compete in the men's group stage.