NAGOYA - China’s 13-year-old swimming sensation Yu Zidi completed a remarkable hat-trick of gold medals at the Asian Games on Wednesday, adding the women’s 400m individual medley title to her victories in the 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley. Yu produced another commanding performance, leading from start to finish to win in a Games-record time of 4 minutes 28.56 seconds. She finished 3.95 seconds ahead of compatriot Ke Wenxi to complete a clean sweep of her three individual events, with all three victories coming in Games-record times. “I am very happy. I have gained a lot from these Asian Games, but there are also some regrets,” Yu said. “I will go back and review what I did not do well. Hopefully, I can do better next time.”
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The schoolgirl, who turns 14 next month, has emerged as one of the biggest stars of the Aichi-Nagoya Games and is already being tipped as a potential medal contender at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. China’s butterfly great Zhang Yufei praised Yu’s rapid development, saying: “It seems every competition she reaches a higher level. Now everyone wonders what’s next?” Yu’s exploits have also underlined China’s dominance in the swimming competition, with the country claiming 21 of the 28 gold medals awarded in the pool so far. North Korea celebrated its first gold medal of the Games in spectacular fashion as weightlifter Ri Song Gum shattered three world records on her way to victory in the women’s 49kg category. The 28-year-old lifted 94kg in the snatch before twice surpassing the clean-and-jerk world record, first with 116kg and then 121kg. Her combined total of 215kg was also a new world record.
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The victory gave Ri her third Asian Games gold medal and placed her among an elite group of weightlifters to achieve the feat. Standing just 140cm tall, Ri was visibly emotional as the North Korean anthem played during the medal ceremony. China also enjoyed success in gymnastics and athletics. Zhang Boheng produced a composed performance on the high bar to help China defeat Japan and win the men’s team gymnastics gold, exacting some revenge for their defeat at the Paris Olympics two years ago. On the athletics track, China swept both half-marathon race-walking titles. Shi Shengji won the men’s event, while compatriot Yang Liujing claimed the women’s gold. In badminton, world number one An Se-young won her singles match, but South Korea were beaten 3-1 by Japan in the women’s team semi-final.
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Japan’s victory contributed to the hosts’ strong medal haul, while China remained comfortably atop the overall standings with 47 gold medals. Japan were second with 15 golds and South Korea third with eight. Kazakhstan also celebrated a notable victory as veteran cyclist Alexey Lutsenko won the men’s road race for his second gold of the Games. Lutsenko, who plans to retire at the end of the year, had already won the individual time trial and leaves Nagoya with seven Asian Games medals.