China’s Yan one and done after golden Asian Games throw

NAGOYA – Chinese teen Yan Ziyi said she surprised even herself after demolishing the opposition with her first and only throw of 70.46 meters to win Asian Games women’s javelin gold on Sunday.

The 18-year-old broke the Games record with her sole attempt and it was enough to beat a field that included Japan’s Olympic champion Haruka Kitaguchi.

Yan’s effort was the sixth best of all time and confirmed her enormous potential two years out from the Los Angeles Olympics.

She threw a colossal 71.74m in May this year, second only to the world record of 72.28m set by the Czech Republic’s Barbora Spotakova in 2008.

Yan said she did not expect her Asian Games debut to be over after just one throw.

“My plan was to make my first two throws count,” she said.

“But I didn’t expect to reach that distance on my very first throw.”

Yan finished second behind Kitaguchi at the Ultimate Championship in Budapest earlier this month.

Heavy rain in Nagoya made for unpredictable conditions but Yan said it did not affect her.

“As an athlete who has competed in many meets and on the international stage, I think it’s very important to adapt to changing conditions,” she said.

Kitaguchi finished a distant second with 62.70m.

Thailand’s Puripol Boonson completed a sprint double after blazing to the men’s 200m title in an Asian record 19.88 seconds.

The 20-year-old broke his own Asian Games record to win the 100m title two days earlier.

He was in full control in the 200m and finished 0.57 ahead of China’s silver medallist Huang Youwen, with Japan’s Soshi Mizukubo third.

“I can’t say how fast I’m going to get,” said Puripol.

“But there are going to be more records and I’m going to be much faster.”

Singapore’s Shanti Pereira defended her title in the women’s 200m after pipping China’s Chen Yujie to the line.

The 17-year-old Chen was looking for a sprint double after beating Pereira into second in the 100m.

Pereira, who won in a time of 22.78, said her victory was a case of “mind over matter“.

“I told myself, ’Today it’s mine,’” she said.

“No matter what, nothing in the world is going to stop me from getting it.”

A late injury ruled Qatar’s defending champion Mutaz Barshim out of the high jump.

Barshim, a gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, is a three-time Asian Games champion.

The competition was won by Taiwan’s Fu Chao-hsuan with a jump of 2.25m.