Chinese prodigy wins first gold at Asian Games

China’s 13-year-old swimmer Yu Zidi yesterday smashed the Asian Games record as she won gold in Japan, two years out from the Los Angeles Olympics.

Yu, who turns 14 next month, romped home in the women’s 200m butterfly in 2 minutes 05.08 seconds to shave almost half a second off the time set by China’s Zhang Zufei three years ago in Hangzhou, China, of 2:05:57.

Her time in winning her first major gold medal was 3.36 seconds faster than China’s Chang Mohan, who took the silver.

China’s Yu Zidi celebrates on the podium after winning the women’s 200m butterfly swimming event during the Asian Games in Tokyo yesterday.

Photo: AFP

It was the first of three individual events Yu is scheduled to compete in at the Asian Games, where swimming events are being held in Tokyo.

Yu became the youngest swimming world championships medalist in history last year when she won bronze as a 12-year-old as part of China’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.

She also finished a whisker outside the medals in fourth in three world individual events.

She has embellished her growing reputation this year, notably with a victory over multiple US Olympic champion Regan Smith in March.

The schoolgirl with the pixie haircut is expected to be a serious contender at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

However, she has spoken of struggling to deal with the heavy load placed on her.

During the build-up to China’s National Games last year she said the pressure to win the 400m medley nearly became too much.

Her coach told her to persevere and “believe in yourself,” she said. Yu went on to win four medals at the National Games.

Some in the swimming world have questioned the mental and physical impact of high-level training and competing on Yu at such a young age.

Under World Aquatics rules, the minimum age for international championships is 14, but exceptions can be made for younger swimmers if they are fast enough.