NAGOYA, Japan (AP) — Yu Zidi, the 13-year-old Chinese swimmer, on Monday won her second gold medal at the Asian Games as she points to much larger things at the Los Angeles Olympics in two years and a showdown with Canadian Summer McIntosh.
That head-to-head could come even earlier in next year's swimming world championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Yu took the 200-meter individual medley in 2 minutes, 6.10 seconds in the Tokyo Olympic pool. That is just
off the world record of 2:05.70 held by McIntosh. Yu also won the 200 butterfly on Sunday, and she'll swim the 400 IM later in the week.
She said winning never gets old.
“I felt the same. I’m just as excited today,” Yu said. “The result reflects all the hard work I’ve put in during training with my coaching team.”
She said she got many congratulatory messages after Sunday's victory, but she had to keep her focus.
“I don’t want to get too confident,” she said. “I’ll just keep working hard.”
McIntosh won three gold medals in the Paris Olympics in 2024, all in the same races that Yu contests. McIntosh also holds the world marks in all of those events: the 200 fly (2:01.65), the 200 IM (2:05.70) and the 400 IM (4:23,65).
As a 12-year-old at the World Championships a year ago in Singapore, Yu finished fourth in her three events, and won a bronze medal in a relay.
She made more headlines earlier this year when she defeated American Regan Smith in the 200 fly in a meet in China. Smith was the silver medalist in the event in the 2024 Olympics.
Asian Games officials said it was unclear if Yu is the youngest gold-medal winner at the event, which dates from 1951 in New Delhi, because records are incomplete.
She's not even the youngest contestant entered this time. That is believed to be 11-year-old Yuki Kurihara, who competes for Japan in esports.
China won six of the seven gold medals on Sunday, It was not quite as commanding on Monday, but still won gold in five of seven events. In the 100 breaststroke, China's Dong Zhihao and Shin Ohashi of Japan tied with the same first-place time (58.64).
China won 28 gold medals in swimming in the Asian Games three years ago in Hangzhou, China, with South Korea getting six and Japan with five. It looks set to at least match that mark.
Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong, the two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 100 and 200 free, repeated her Asian Games titles in the 200 free.
“I am very happy to win another gold medal,” she said. “That’s a really precious moment. Just happy to be here.”
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