Sports
China’s Yu Zidi, 13, completes hat-trick of swimming golds at Asian Games
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Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi, 13, has completed a hat-trick of gold medals at the Asian Games after winning the women’s 400-metre individual medley.
Having already shaken the swimming world by winning the 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley, the teenager erased any lingering doubts about her generational talent with a dominant victory in the 400m individual medley, further tightening China’s grip on the medals table.
Yu’s wire-to-wire win, clocked at four minutes and 28.56 seconds, set a new Games record and came comfortably 3.95 seconds ahead of compatriot Ke Wenxi.
She also finished less than five seconds off Summer McIntosh’s world record of four minutes and 23.65 seconds and now looks set for a direct showdown with the Canadian at next year’s World Aquatics Masters Championships in Budapest, before a potential Olympic rematch at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
“I am very happy. I have gained a lot from these Asian Games, but there are also some regrets,” Yu said. “I will go back and review what I did not do well. Hopefully, I can do better next time.”
China’s butterfly queen Zhang Yufei was the latest to gush about Yu, telling Reuters: “I’ve only seen her at the National Games so far but seeing her results get better and better it makes me really happy.”
Elsewhere in the pool, China continued to dominate as Peng Xuwei claimed the women’s 100m backstroke title, even though she was “not particularly satisfied” with how she swam, while Zhang Zhanshuo powered to victory in the men’s 200m freestyle to bag his fourth gold of the ongoing Games.
China boast 21 gold medals in 27 swimming events and are looking to pass their total of 28 golds from the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Two days of competition remain in the pool, where Yu could still feature in a relay event.
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