00:00As China's Olympic champion stepped out in front of the mostly Chinese crowd for her final match,
00:05she thought that she would be celebrated.
00:07But instead, the crowd was mostly silent,
00:09and they only really started cheering when her opponent came out.
00:13To Chen Meng, it felt like her own country had abandoned her.
00:17But why?
00:17Well, since winning the previous Olympic final in Tokyo
00:20against the Chinese up-and-coming superstar Sun Ying Sha,
00:24Chen had been gradually drifting out of the spotlight.
00:26She was getting older and losing her edge,
00:28while her fellow countrywoman, Sun, was steadily climbing the ranks.
00:32In the two years leading up to the Paris Olympics,
00:35Chen had lost just about every match she played against Sun.
00:38And by 2024, Sun had well and truly replaced Chen as the number one player in the world.
00:44Sun had won the World Championships and the World Cup.
00:47So all eyes were on her to win again at the Paris Olympics
00:50and achieve what's known in the sport as a Grand Slam,
00:53a win in the three most prestigious tournaments.
00:56And as the final match began, it looked like Sun's win was inevitable.
01:00She destroyed Chen in the first game, and her Chinese superfans went wild.
01:04However, in the second game, Sun's dominance started to crack as Chen fought back.
01:09See, Chen knew that this would likely be her last Olympics,
01:12and so she was going to give it her all.
01:14Chen played her absolute heart out and ended up winning the second game,
01:18giving Sun her first game loss of the entire tournament.
01:21Sun's fans were livid.
01:23They booed and they even shushed the handful of supporters who were cheering for Chen.
01:27They half expected Chen to allow Sun to defeat her
01:30as a way of handing the baton to the younger generation.
01:33But it was clear that Chen wasn't just going to roll over.
01:36If Sun really wanted Olympic gold, she was going to have to earn it.
01:40Chen continued fighting, beating Sun again and winning the third game.
01:45In the fourth, Sun, with the crowd on her side, pushed back and managed to equalize the score,
01:49only to be beaten by Chen again in the fifth game.
01:52If Sun Yingsha's supporters weren't nervous before, by now they certainly were.
01:57Chen Meng only needed to win one more game to secure the gold.
02:01And a few minutes later, she did just that.
02:04Sun's unhinged fans hurled insults at Chen,
02:07and one was even seen furiously giving her the finger.
02:09But Chen Meng didn't care.
02:11She'd played to the best of her ability,
02:13and she'd once again secured a gold medal
02:15and her place in history as truly one of the greats.
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