Chinese golfer Lin Xiyu expresses joy after winning bronze at Paris Olympics

Chinese golfer Lin Xiyu expressed her immense joy at earning the women's golf bronze medal at the Paris Olympics on Saturday and shared her emotional journey to achieving victory in tough competition.

After becoming the second Chinese golfer to win an Olympic medal, following Feng Shanshan's success at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Lin showed her satisfaction with her performance in Paris.

"I feel quite amazing. I knew I had a chance today, but I knew it was going to be a very tough battle. I didn't have the best start I was asked for, so I'm very proud of myself for the way I fought back in the end. It's good enough to win a medal, and that's even better. So I am overwhelmed right now," Lin said in an interview after her win.

Lin moved up four places in the final 18 holes of the competition, attributing her success to staying consistent despite a slow start. She acknowledged the difficulty of the game but she battled back in the final round and secure the third place.

"I was a little disappointed when I saw I was so far behind. But then I said to myself that I've been playing very consistently all week, and I think, on the back nine, that consistency is going to be a very good weapon. So I just needed to keep doing what I've been doing. I also stopped looking at the scoreboard. I just wanted to play my own golf. I have a good game plan, I executed it really well, and then it ended up being good enough to give me a medal," said the Chinese golfer.

Lin also revealed that she learned a lot from Feng, the first Chinese golfer standing on the Olympic podium, and shared their memorable conversation before Lin left for Paris this summer.

"I got to talk to Shanshan right before I left for Paris. I was explaining my anxiety and said, 'I don't know what to expect here.' Then she just asked me one question, said, 'If this is your third Olympics or last Olympics, what kind of finish you think you'll be satisfied with yourself?' And I thought about it and said, 'Well, a medal, of course.' And then she said, 'Then that's the goal. We have nothing to lose. We have to keep grinding it out.' Nothing is going to be in the way when I am fully focused on this target, and I think that was a really important conversation," said Lin.

Chinese golfer Lin Xiyu expresses joy after winning bronze at Paris Olympics

The new China-Mongolia cross-border railway is expected to serve as a new bridge for boosting connectivity between the two countries, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in Beijing on Thursday.

China and Mongolia held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday to mark the official launch of construction on the Gantsmod–Gashuunsukhait rail project, which will be the second cross-border rail link between the two countries.

Lin said at a regular press briefing that the railway would inject new momentum into the development of China-Mongolia bilateral relations.

"On May 14, China and Mongolia held a ceremony to mark the official groundbreaking of the Gantsmod-Gashuunsukhait cross-border railway, which is the second cross-border railway between the two countries. Expanding cooperation in key areas such as economy and trade, energy, mining and connectivity is an important common understanding between President Xi Jinping and Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh. In February this year, Premier Li Qiang and Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene jointly witnessed the exhibiting of the cooperation agreement on the Gantsmod-Gashuunsukhait railway and coal trade," said Lin.

"The construction of this cross-border railway is not only a concrete step of implementing the important common understanding between the presidents of the two countries, but also an important action to synergize the Belt and Road Initiative and Mongolia's Steppe Road Program. We hope this railway will serve as a new bridge for China-Mongolia connectivity, fostering deeper development integration, promoting industrial synergy, and expanding visits and exchanges, thereby injecting new impetus in to the building of a China-Mongolia community with a shared future," he said.

New cross-border railway to enhance connectivity between China, Mongolia: FM spokesman