Yu, 13, wins record-breaking first major gold medal
China’s Yu Zidi, 13, wins a record‑breaking 200m women’s butterfly gold at the Asian Games in Tokyo.
Yu Zidi, a 13-year-old Chinese schoolgirl, claimed the first major gold medal of the Asian Games on opening day, setting a record‑breaking time of 200m butterfly at two minutes 05.08 seconds. This performance broke the previous Asian Games record by almost half a second, set by fellow Chinese athlete Zhang Yufei three years earlier.
Yu dominated the race, finishing over three seconds ahead of her teammate Chang Mohan. The teenager, who is expected to make a significant impact at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, admitted after accepting her medal that her technique in the butterfly stroke still needed improvement. She expressed optimism, noting that she had improved her time by 0.9 seconds at the Asian Games and was confident about her future performances.
Yu's achievement also made her the youngest swimmer ever to win a medal at the World Championships, as she had won bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay event at the age of 12 alongside her Chinese team.
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