MANAMA, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- At daybreak on Bahrain's Gulf coast, the horn sounded and the water churned. By mid-morning, China's teenagers had turned a tough start into a statement finish, delivering the delegation's first golds of the 3rd Asian Youth Games (AYG): Li Yansong took the men's triathlon individual gold, while Xu Enge and Bian Zijia claimed gold and silver in the women's race.

"I didn't think too much; I just kept telling myself, 'one more minute, ten more seconds,'" Li said.

The 16-year-old admitted his swim start was off, emerging from the water behind the leaders. He clawed back ground on the bike and only reeled in the front group over the final two laps. A minor fumble in T2 couldn't derail him: running is his strength, and by the first out-and-back he had surged to the front, never to be caught. Li broke the tape in 27:04.

"I messaged my coach right away," he added. "This gold will push me to train even harder." A late challenge from a Kazakh rival, he said, "made me focus and commit even more on the run."

While the men's race was a come-from-behind solo, the women's event was a model in teamwork. Xu and Bian had agreed on the start line: if conditions allowed, exit the swim together, then rotate turns on the bike to build -- and protect -- their margin.

"We worked together on the bike and left the race to the run," Xu said. She controlled the pace once on foot to secure the title, with Bian staying composed for silver. The pair acknowledged persistent pressure from an Indonesian chaser but "never let the gap shrink."

Behind the medals sat months of targeted fixes. Li calls swimming his former weak link - coach once teased him as "the banana" for a wobbly freestyle when he first switched strokes - but says that gap has closed to the point where "it won't open a big hole anymore."

His training mantra is simple and specific: "When the intervals bite, I tell myself to hold on a bit longer - one more minute, ten more seconds - and that stacks up into the last ten seconds that decide a race."

For Xu and Bian, the focus has been "directional" too: building single-effort bike power to cope with wind or fractured packs, and small-muscle and joint-stability work to stay healthy for the run. "A senior teammate told me: when you're exhausted and can still hold on, that's when you grow," Bian said with a smile. "That line gets me through the sessions when I feel I can't."

Beyond the finish arch, the day also felt like a first chapter. For many on the squad, this is the first overseas event and the first time competing in a Gulf country. They traded pins and photos with peers from across Asia, and compared notes on the city's architecture glimpsed from the team bus. "Everyone's been really warm -- lots of congrats from other teams," Xu said, calling it "a youthful games with a softer side."

"This gold is only the beginning of my journey as a real athlete," Xu said. Bian added, "I hope to represent China on bigger stages and win more medals."

Li looked further ahead: "My goal is to perform even better when the stage is bigger and fly the flag high."

For these youth from China, the road is long, but the first gold has already lit their way. ■