Zidi

The 13-year-old beat the previous 400m Asian Games record, set by China’s Ye Shiwen in 2014, by about 4.5 seconds.

China’s 13-year-old swimming sensation Yu Zidi has completed a hat-trick of Asian Games golds with a dominant victory in the 400m individual medley, two years before the Los Angeles Olympics.

The schoolgirl powered home in an Asian Games-record 4 minutes 28.56 seconds (04:28.56) on Wednesday to make it a clean sweep of her three individual events in Tokyo, following victories in the 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley, also in games-record times.

She beat the previous 400m games record set by China’s Ye Shiwen in 2014 by approximately 4.5 seconds.

It was the fourth-fastest time in the world this year, with world record-holder Summer McIntosh owning the top three.

With the next Olympics two years away, Yu is shaping up to be a major medal contender at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Last year, she became the youngest medallist at the World Aquatics Championships, where she won bronze for China’s relay team at the age of 12, and has since been earmarked for success in the swimming world.

At the same championship, Yu finished fourth by a small margin in three individual events.

In March, the teen sensation built on her growing reputation with a 200m butterfly victory over seven-time American Olympic medallist Regan Smith at the China Swimming Open.

At the Asian Games, Yu has dominated the pool and showed another glimpse of her immense talent in the 400m individual medley, where she took the lead from the start and finished 3.95 seconds clear of silver medallist Ke Wenxi of China, with Japan’s Mio Narita finishing third.

In addition to grabbing international headlines, Yu has become a sensation at home following her Asian Games exploits.

The story of her introduction to competitive swimming after being spotted by a coach at a water park, and her struggle with interviews, has gone viral on local social media platforms.

At the games, Yu was asked by the media whether answering questions was the hardest part of competing. She replied, with a giggle: “Every time I just want to float off somewhere else.”

Chinese schoolgirl Yu Zidi lit up the opening day of the Asian Games with a record‑breaking 200m butterfly gold medal secured by a performance she described as “only so‑so”.

The 13‑year‑old claimed her first major gold in two minutes 05.08 seconds, an Asian Games record that took almost half a second off compatriot Zhang Yufei’s mark from three years ago.

Yu, who is strongly tipped to make an impact at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, won by over three seconds in Tokyo from her team-mate Chang Mohan.

“It was only so-so,” a smiling Yu said after receiving her medal, adding that her butterfly technique “is still slightly lacking”.

“I hope I can swim even faster. I improved my time by 0.9 seconds here, and I believe I will perform better next time,” she continued.

Yu, who will take part in two more individual events at the Asian Games, became the youngest ever swimmer to win a medal at the World Championships when she took bronze as a 12-year-old as part of China’s 4x200m freestyle relay team last year.