Latest news with #YuZidi
The Guardian
a day ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Swimming worlds: Summer McIntosh wins 200 IM for second gold in as many days
Two days. Two gold medals. Summer McIntosh is off to a perfect start at the swimming world championships in her attempt to win five individual gold medals, a feat only achieved by American legend Michael Phelps. The 18-year-old Canadian took the 200-meter individual medley on Monday, clocking 2:06.69. The victory matched the gold she won Sunday in the 400 freestyle. Alex Walsh of the United States claimed the silver in 2:08.58 with bronze going to Mary-Sophie Harvey of Canada in 2:09.15. The winning time trailed McIntosh's world record of 2:05.70. And she was not content. 'Going in tonight, my goal was to get my hand on the wall first,' McIntosh said. 'So to get that done is good. I'm not super happy with my time. But honestly, at a world championships, my goal is just to go as fast as I can against my competitors. Still happy with the gold and hoping to keep up my streak next time.' Yu Zidi, a Chinese 12-year-old, finished fourth in 2:09.21, just missing a medal as she astounds the swim world with her times. She is also due to compete in the 400 IM and 200 butterfly, probably her strongest events. McIntosh will chase three more golds in the 400 IM, 800 free and the 200 butterfly over the next six days in Singapore. Gretchen Walsh broke through on Monday with the first gold in Singapore for the United States, taking the 100 butterfly in 54.73. The silver medalist a year ago in Paris, Walsh was just off her world-record time of 54.60 set earlier this year. Roos Vanotterdijk of Belgium took silver in 55.84 and Alexandria Perkins of Australia claimed bronze in 56.33. Walsh acknowledged in a post-race interview at poolside that the American team had been hit with a bout of what team officials called 'acute gastroenteritis.' It was picked up at a training camp in Thailand prior to arrival in Singapore. U.S. officials have confirmed the outbreak but have given few details and did not name swimmer nor say how many were affected. 'With the illness that's been going on – I faced it back the last couple days – my body has just been fragile, and I think that I've needed to give myself grace,' Walsh said. 'Luckily, I had the morning to recover and rest, and I used that, and that helped me enormously going into tonight, so I tried to make the most of it. 'It was not easy, and I'm just really proud of myself,' Walsh added, thrilled to be under 55 seconds. 'It took a lot of guts. I just wanted to go out there and do it for my team, just represent the flag well. It came out of somewhere, but I'm really, really happy.' Walsh's older sister Alex was almost even with McIntosh after 150 meters, swimming a strong breaststroke leg to make it a race. 'I was really excited on the breaststroke leg,' she said. 'I could see her and I knew I was kind of gaining on her because breaststroke is my best stroke. I was really excited and, obviously coming home on the freestyle, that's definitely where my biggest weakness (is).' Two other finals wrapped up Monday's schedule. Qin Haiyang, the world champion in 2023, defeated Paris Olympic winner Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy in the 100 breaststroke. Qin clocked 58.23 to give China its first gold in Singapore with the Italian swimmer finishing in 58.58. Denis Petrashov of Kyrgyzstan took bronze in 58.88. 'I've been injured and it's not been easy to get back to my best,' Haiyang said. 'I'm at best at 70%. I'm probably lucky. This definitely helps with my confidence.' In the men's 50 butterfly, Maxime Grousset of France edged Noe Ponti of Switzerland. Grousset clocked 22.48 with Ponti finishing in 22.51. Thomas Ceccon of Italy took bronze in 22.67. In the four semi-finals, Paris Olympics bronze medalist Luke Hobson of the United States led 200 free qualifying (1:44.80), with Paris champion David Popovici of Romania in fourth (1:45.02). Hubert Kós of Hungary headed a very fast men's 100 backstroke in 52.21. American Regan Smith led the women's 100 backstroke (58.21) ahead of two-time Australian Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown (58.44). Kate Douglass of the United States swam a personal best in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.49) and will be the top seed in Tuesday's final.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Chinese swimmer, 12, misses out on World Championships medal by just 0.06 seconds - despite being TOO YOUNG to hold a junior world record
Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi, 12, missed out on claiming a sensational medal at the World Championships in Singapore by just 0.06 seconds. The pre-teen, who was born on October 16 in 2012, finished fourth in the women's 200 metres individual medley final on Monday. Canada's Summer McIntosh, a triple Olympic champion at 17 in Paris last year, claimed gold in the event in a time of 2:06.69. United States Alex Walsh and Canada's Mary-Sophie Harvey completed the podium in 2:08.58 and 2:09.15, with Yu finishing just 0.06 seconds further back in fourth. In doing so, the Chinese swimmer lowered her already existing record for a 12-year-old swimmer in the event. World Aquatics typically requires swimmers to be 14-years-old by December 31 in the year of competition to be eligible for its senior and junior World Championship events. At just 12-years-old, Yu is also too young under World Aquatics rules to hold a junior world record. Yu, however, was able to participate in Singapore having achieved the A-standard qualification time at the Chinese National Championships in May. She would have become the youngest athlete to win a swimming medal at the Olympics or World Championships for 89 years after Denmark's Inge Sorensen. Sorensen won a bronze medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the 200m breaststroke when she was 12 years and 24 days old. Yu had come within two seconds of qualifying for the Olympics last year at the age of 11, meaning Wednesday marked her debut at a major Championships. 'My goal was to give my best and try for a podium finish, even though I thought it might be beyond my reach, but I wanted to give it a shot,' Yu said post-race. 'I'll keep working hard.' Yu was hailed as 'phenomenally talented' by silver medallist Walsh, who added 'I think it will be interesting to see how she takes this meet and translates it into the future swims she has because she's definitely got a really bright future.' Yu will also contest the women's 400m individual medley and 200m butterfly in Singapore, two events in which she was crowned national champion in May. Her times at the National Championships would have been enough to finish fourth in both Olympic finals last year. Yu, who began training at the age of six, is remarkably not the youngest athlete to compete at the World Championships. Bahrain's Alzain Tareq competed at the age of 10 back in 2015, before World Aquatics strengthened regulations around entries. Swimming has typically been a sport where young athletes have thrived, with McIntosh, Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps having been among teenage prodigies. Ledecky and Lithuania's Ruta Meilutyte won Olympic titles at the age of 15, the same age Phelps debuted at the Games. Japan's Kyoko Iwasaki also won the women's 200m breaststroke title at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics at the age of 14. China are among the nations to have fielded young athletes in numerous elite sporting events in recent years. The country had the youngest Olympian at Paris 2024 last year, with Zheng Haohao competing in skateboarding at just 11 years and 11 months old.
Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Times
Chinese prodigy, 12, fractions of a second off medal at World Championships
The 12-year-old Yu Zidi produced one of the most remarkable swimming performances in history by finishing just 0.06sec from a medal at the World Championships. In a sport famed for legends who emerge in their teens, Yu is especially young but the Chinese announced her arrival as a prodigious talent by coming fourth in the 200m individual medley final in Singapore on Monday. Yu is the first pre-teen to race at the World Championships and the youngest of 55 women who have swum inside 2min 10sec for the 200m medley. The average age for members of that club is 21. A 12-year-old has not competed at the highest level for almost 100 years — Denmark's Inge Sorensen won bronze in the 200m breaststroke at the Berlin Games of 1936. Sorensen remains the youngest-ever Olympic medal winner. Undeterred by the narrow miss, Yu, who shaved more than a second off her personal best to finish in 2:9.21, was already thinking about her other events this week, the 200m butterfly on Wednesday and the 400m medley on Sunday. 'I will try to get on the podium. But I feel like that's probably impossible. Still, I want to give it a shot. I was one step short today, so I will keep working hard,' Yu said. Yu certainly made an impression on her fellow competitors. 'She's obviously phenomenally talented at such a young age, and it'll be interesting to see how she takes this meet and translates it into the future swims,' said Alex Walsh, 23, the silver-medal winner from the United States. There have been many outstanding teenage swimmers but generally they do not make their mark before the age of 15. Shane Gould in 1972 and Katie Ledecky and Ruta Meilutyte in 2012 were all Olympic champions at 15, while Michael Phelps was 15 when he first raced at the Olympics. Gold in Yu's race went to Summer McIntosh, the Canadian 18-year-old superstar, who was a triple Olympic champion at 17. In the modern era Yu's versatility and speed are unprecedented for a 12-year-old and she is officially too young to hold a world junior record, which she could claim only after turning 14. Born in Baoding, Hebei Province, Yu started training at six. 'After four years of systematic training, she reached the level of a national first-category athlete and was accepted into the Taihua Jinye Swimming Club training centre in Hengshui, where the Hebei Province second team trains,' Xinhua, the Chinese news agency, reported. Yu was soon placed in practice lanes next to the likes of Olympic and world relay champion Li Bingjie and two other national team members. 'She is an Olympic champion, I swim in lane zero, she in lane one — that makes me nervous,' Yu said. By 11, she had clocked times that would have won her several British junior titles in age groups three and even six years older (butterfly) than her. In some events, she would be challenging for places at the Games in Britain's Olympic trials. Yu's precocious talent earned her the nickname 'Xiaohaijie' — 'the little big girl'. 'I found it quite strange at first, but I really like the nickname,' Yu said. 'At the same time, it also puts pressure on me. I'm afraid of doing poorly and disappointing people.' Her regime already includes high-altitude training in Yunnan and she covers 10km in the pool every day for at least six days of the week. Her routine and workload have raised eyebrows in many leading nations but Yu has credited her school for striking the right balance. 'Because everything is available here — training, meals, accommodation, lessons — I can fully concentrate on training during the day and go to school in the evening without distractions,' she said. Yu has conceded that the pressure to succeed can be overwhelming but said that it was her 'duty' to find a way through. As trials for the World Championships loomed large in April, she recalled how daunting the goal of winning a medal at the Chinese Championships felt. 'I almost wanted to give up,' Yu said. 'I was full of emotions and no longer wanted to train. Coaches, team doctor, parents, my first coach — everyone talked to me. I thought back to my beginnings and realised how important swimming is to me. I can't give up.' Still there are concerns about the pressures put on a 12-year-old. One leadership figure who has worked closely with champions, world-class sports scientists, physiologists and psychologists, said: 'When you have a talented young athlete who stands out at the age of 12, it's about ensuring you do the right thing for the long term, not the long-term development in the sport. 'That means taking things at a sensible pace, introducing the right type of training, the right type of competition at the right moment for them. 'There are plenty of athletes around the world who were identified at 12 years old, who could have been better at 13, 14, 15 and then taken through on a steady pace so that they're in the best physical shape between 20 to 26 years old. They're still in love with the sport, healthy and being able to do what they want and need to do at the right time of their life.'
New Straits Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
I'm no genius, says 12-year-old Zidi after just missing podium at worlds
SINGAPORE: Chinese 12-year-old Yu Zidi has become a sensation at the world championships after missing the podium by only 0.06 seconds in the women's 200m individual medley in Singapore on Monday, but she was keen not to get caught up in the hype. Zidi, who shaved over a second off her personal best to finish in two minutes 9.21 seconds, received high praise from fellow competitors but said she was focusing only on her training. "I will try to get on the podium. But I feel like that's probably impossible. Still, I want to give it a shot. I was one step short today, so I will keep working hard," Zidi told CCTV. American silver medallist Alex Walsh said Zidi has a bright future. "She's obviously phenomenally talented at such a young age, and I think it'll be interesting to see how she takes this meet and translates it into the future swims," Walsh said. With the media comparing her with prodigies like Canada's Summer McIntosh, who claimed gold in the race, Zidi shook her head when asked if she was a genius. "Not really. It's all thanks to hard training," she said. Zidi is set to compete in the 200m butterfly on Wednesday, with the 400m medley to follow on Sunday. - Reuters
Japan Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Japan Times
I'm no genius, says 12-year-old Yu after just missing podium at worlds
Chinese 12-year-old Yu Zidi has become a sensation at the World Aquatics Championships after missing the podium by only 0.06 seconds in the women's 200-meter individual medley in Singapore on Monday, but she is keen not to get caught up in the hype. Yu, who shaved over a second off her personal best to finish in two minutes, 9.21 seconds, received high praise from fellow competitors but said she was focusing only on her training. "I will try to get on the podium. But I feel like that's probably impossible. Still, I want to give it a shot. I was one step short today, so I will keep working hard," Yu told CCTV. American silver medalist Alex Walsh said Yu has a bright future. "She's obviously phenomenally talented at such a young age, and I think it'll be interesting to see how she takes this meet and translates it into the future swims," Walsh said. With the media comparing her to prodigies like Canada's Summer McIntosh, who claimed gold in the race, Yu shook her head when asked if she was a genius. "Not really. It's all thanks to hard training," she said. Yu is set to compete in the 200m butterfly on Wednesday, with the 400m medley to follow on Sunday.
