Chengdu, Aug. 9 -- Dragon boat made its debut as an official sport at the World Games today, with Indonesia claiming the first gold medal in the open 8-seater 2,000m pursuit race.
Launching first on the Xinglong Lake Hubin Arena, the Indonesian crew powered to victory in a time of nine minutes 8.12 second.
Host China followed closely to place second in 9:19.22, while Spain earned the bronze medal with
a time of 9:23.75.
Saturday also featured semifinals for four additional events: open 8-seater 200m, open 8-seater 500m, 10-seater 200m, and 10-seater 500m.
Finals for these events, along with the 10-seater 2,000m pursuit race, are scheduled for Sunday.
"The competition in dragon boat is very fierce," said Zhao Xiaoli, an internatio...