GUANGZHOU: Thirteen-year-old Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi continued her impressive Asian Games debut by winning the gold medal in the women’s 400-meter individual medley.
The victory gave Yu her third gold medal of the Games. She had previously won the 200-meter butterfly and 200-meter individual medley.
Yu led from the start and finished in 4 minutes, 28.56 seconds, setting a new Asian Games record.
She improved the previous record, set in 2014, by nearly 4.5 seconds.
Yu’s time is also the fourth-fastest in the world this year, with only Canadian world-record holder Summer McIntosh having posted faster times.
China’s He Wensi won the silver medal, while Japan’s Miu Narita took bronze.
Meanwhile, North Korean weightlifter Ri Song Gum won her third Asian Games gold medal in the women’s 49-kilogram category after setting three world records.
Earlier, China’s 13-year-old swimmer Yu Zidi won gold in the women’s 200-meter butterfly at the Asian Games, setting a new Games record in the process.
Yu completed the race in 2 minutes, 5.08 seconds at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, breaking the previous Asian Games record of 2:05.57 set by Chinese Olympic champion Zhang Yufei at the 2023 Games.
Yu finished more than three seconds ahead of compatriot Chang Mohan, while Japan’s Misa Okuzono took the bronze medal.
Yu, who will turn 14 next month, became the youngest medalist in world championship history last year at the age of 12. She was part of China’s bronze medal-winning relay team at the world championships in Singapore.
Despite winning her first individual Asian Games gold medal, Yu described her performance as average and said she hoped to swim faster.
