Thirteen-year-old swimming star Yu Zidi claimed a dominant victory in the 400m individual medley to complete a hat-trick of gold medals at the Asian Games.
China’s Yu led from start to finish as she set a new Games record of four minutes 28.56 seconds, smashing the previous record – which had stood since 2014 – by nearly 4.5 seconds.
Her time is the fourth fastest in the world this year, with only Canada’s world record holder Summer McIntosh having gone quicker.
Yu was 3.95 seconds clear of compatriot Ke Wenxi, who took silver, with Japan’s Mio Narita claiming bronze.
Having already won gold in the 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley in Nagoya – both in Games record times – Yu is being widely tipped to contend for the medals at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Meanwhile, North Korea weightlifter Ri Song Gum broke three world records on her way to securing her third Asian Games gold in the women’s 49kg category.
Defending champion Ri, 28, lifted 94kg in the snatch segment and followed up with a clean-and-jerk of 121kg, both marks 1kg more than the previous world bests.
It gave her a total haul of 215kg – some 4kg more than the previous world record.
“The world record and this gold medal hold great meaning for me, because of everything I poured into this competition,” Ri said.
“I stepped out on to the competition floor today carrying that faith and those expectations.”
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